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Ugo Humbert - Wimbledon 2024

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Ugo Humbert calls ATP calendar changes ‘the biggest bulls***’

Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
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Ugo Humbert has heavily criticised two week Masters 1000 events, while responding to World No.1 Jannik Sinner’s claims that players can choose not to compete.Humbert, who is the current World No.16, is currently in Frankfurt for the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) exhibition event.And while in the German city, Humbert has spoken to Tennis Majors about his disapproval of changes to
ATP 1000 tournaments. “They never go in the players’ direction,” said Humbert. “I’m sorry, but I think that, already, the biggest bulls*** is to have put the Masters 1000 over two weeks. It’s tiring. “And they tell us that we earn more money but it’s not true, we have twice as many expenses. There are a lot more guys who get injured too. Even to follow on TV, I think it’s not even worth it, you don’t understand who’s playing when etc. All that, it’s just a question of money, but that’s not all there is to it.” Some Masters 1000 events have been gradually extended from one to two weeks in recent years, with five of nine taking place over a fortnight in 2024. There will be even more two week Masters 1000 tournaments taking place next year, with both the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open also being extended. Humbert went onto explain some of the struggles he has had this year, and revealed that the start of the 2025 season means he will not be able to spend Christmas with his family. “I had a period, the North American season, where I wasn’t feeling well, I felt tired, exhausted, from the travels, from being away from home all the time. It’s too hard, it’s too hard,” explained the 26-year-old.“And now, they’re going in that direction again. Next year, the Masters 1000 in Canada and Cincinnati will also be two weeks apart.” He continued, “I think it’s complete nonsense, the season is much too long. There’s no other sport where you only have one month off. I’m going to finish my season just after Metz and I’m going to leave a month later for the United Cup which starts on December 27. I can’t even celebrate Christmas at home.”
Humbert is not the first person to show their disapproval of changes to the tennis calendar, with Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper just two of those to recently do so. However,
Australian Open and US Open champion Sinner has been less critical of the calendar and suggested that players can choose to take weeks off. It seems as though Humbert does not agree with Sinner’s view, implying that it is much easier for someone at the top of the rankings to skip tournaments. “I hear some, like Jannik Sinner, who say that you can choose not to play. When you are 50th, 60th in the world, you try to play as much as possible to move up the rankings,” said Humbert. “We need to review the thing, try to condense more, because, in the current state, it is tiring. After a while, it is not possible.” Humbert will play against Ben Shelton in the UTS Frankfurt final later today, before heading to Basel for the ATP 500 tournament next week.Inside the baseline…
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Complaints about two week Masters 1000 events and the calendar as a whole seem to be growing, and it easy to see why. These events appear to be very long and drawn out particularly for spectators, and as Ugo Humbert said it is very hard to keep track of where the tournament is at sometimes. However, this does not seem likely to change anytime soon and it seems inevitable that the Monte Carlo Masters and Paris Masters will be extended at some point. Some may argue that Humbert should not complain about the amount of tournaments and then go to compete at a UTS exhibition event, but the opposing argument would be that playing exhibitions has nowhere near the same stress levels as an ATP sanctioned tournament and players need to make money where they can.
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