Tennis boss responds to struggling stars calling for change to congested calendar

Jannik Sinner’s recent withdrawal from the Cincinnati Open final has resulted in the latest complaint from top tennis players over the schedule, and the response has been swift

ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi has fired back in defence of the tennis calendar following mounting complaints from players about fixture congestion. This summer has witnessed a succession of both men’s and women’s stars publicly slam the current system, claiming there are excessive commitments in a campaign that stretches too long.

Spanish ace Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is among those to have targeted organisers recently. He highlighted the Cincinnati Open’s men’s final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner being staged on a Monday afternoon as a glaring illustration of how matters have spiralled out of control.

Davidovich Fokina posted on social media: “A Monday final at 3pm in August in Cincinnati, after the whole Toronto-Cincinnati swing, with so many retirements and players dead tired…something needs to change.”

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Sinner pulled out of the Cincinnati final through illness, with both competitors expected in New York on Tuesday for the start of the US Open’s revamped mixed doubles event. However, the Italian was compelled to withdraw rather than compete in a second match inside 24 hours.

Worries were sparked earlier in the Ohio tournament when Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech collapsed on-court in scorching conditions. But Gaudenzi has launched a counter-attack in his response and maintained “players choose their own schedules,” meaning they aren’t obliged to enter any particular tournament.

“Our schedule is complex. It’s a long season, and reaching the highest level week after week is demanding,” he said in a recent interview with SuperTennis. “But this is also an individual sport: one player can be eliminated in the first round, another lift the trophy after the final.

“Finding a solution that works for both ends of the spectrum is never simple, and you can’t build a schedule around just one cohort of players. All cohorts must be considered. We must be clear: the ATP does not control the entire calendar. We work around the Grand Slams, the Davis Cup, and other fixed dates.”

Gaudenzi also attempted to calm those stars who have voiced concerns over pay, claiming players aren’t rewarded enough for their hard work. He pointed to the Cincinnati Open’s £192million renovation scheme as one example of a project that will eventually benefit competitors down the line.

Davidovich Fokina isn’t the only tennis ace to have criticised the current calendar. Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek recently described the schedule as “too intense” when questioned about the biggest danger to players’ mental well-being.

“I think these kind of obligations and the rules about mandatory tournaments just put pressure on us,” she said in June. “I think people would still watch tennis, maybe even more, if we played fewer tournaments. The quality would be better.”

Meanwhile, fellow WTA stars Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Ons Jabeur each raised concerns over the failure to schedule more evening women’s matches during this year’s French Open.

Fed up with the absence of progress after several years of the same row, American Pegula said: “It feels like just hitting my head against the wall, because I feel like we have been talking about this for two, three, four [years], probably forever, to be honest, because it’s never been equal.”