The tennis schedule has been a hot topic of debate throughout 2025, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff expressing concerns.
Alcaraz has described the schedule as ‘really tight’ with too many mandatory tournaments, while Swiatek has labelled the WTA Tour schedule as ‘crazy.’
Another hot topic has been the debate around court speeds.
A few weeks ago, tennis legend Roger Federer suggested that court speeds have been slowed down to help aid the chances of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner reaching finals.
World number three Alexander Zverev later echoed this sentiment, and the debate has rolled on since.
World number four Taylor Fritz has now weighed in on these issues in response to complaints from British number one Jack Draper.
Taylor Fritz agrees with Jack Draper’s complaints about the tennis schedule
World number nine Jack Draper has taken to social media to express his concerns regarding the current state of the tennis schedule.
Draper, who is expected to return to the court in December, said on X [Twitter]: “Injuries are going to happen… we are pushing our bodies to do things they aren’t supposed to in elite sport.
“We have so many incredible younger guys on the Tour right now, and I’m proud to be a part of that. However, the tour and the calendar have to adapt if any of us are going to achieve some sort of longevity…”
World number four Taylor Fritz replied to Draper, saying: “Facts, also seeing more injuries and burnout now than ever before because balls, courts, conditions have slowed down a lot, making the weekly grind even more physically demanding and tough on the body.”
One fan then challenged Fritz’s claim that all the court speeds have slowed down, to which Fritz responded: “Balls make a much bigger difference on how fast the court plays than the actual court speed. Shanghai last year had a very high CPI, but the slow balls we used made it play slow.
“This year, the balls were still slow, and they also slowed the courts, and it was brutal.
“I can say with certainty every ball we play with consistently, with the exception of the US Open ball that is used for Toronto, Cincinnati, US Open, is much slower and more dead compared to when I started my career.”
Later in the conversation, Fritz added: “A lot of people struggle to differentiate between slow ball / slow court. It’s only something I have picked up in recent years. It’s easy to play with a slow ball and just think the court is slow when maybe it’s not and vice versa.
“A good example of this is that I heard someone play tested the ball for Shanghai prior to the Shanghai event and said it was a fast ball, and that is one of the reasons Shanghai slowed the court down.
“I can assure you whoever play tested the ball did so on a lightning-fast court and couldn’t differentiate the two so they thought the ball was fast.”
Taylor Fritz’s next tournament
Following his third-place finish at the Six Kings Slam, American number one Taylor Fritz is set to participate in the Basel Open.
The American has been handed an extremely tough draw: He is set to face Shanghai Masters champion Valentin Vacherot in the first round..
Ranked 204 in the world ahead of the Shanghai Masters, Vacherot became the lowest-ranked qualifier to win a Masters 1000 title and the first player from Monaco to win a title of that status.
If Fritz defeats Vacherot, he will face either Sebastian Korda or Ugo Humbert in the second round.
