"I'm not a fan of the direction this is taking," Zverev discusses Masters 1000 format and ATP schedule

Adrien Guyot

le 02/08/2025 à 12h14

2 min to read

De Minaur Zverev

In his career, Alexander Zverev has won 7 Masters 1000 titles, the most recent being last season at the Paris-Bercy tournament, where he defeated Ugo Humbert in the final.

However, the German is not a fan of the new format now imposed on nearly all tournaments in this category for several years, which now span twelve days—or even two weeks.

As a guest on the *Nothing Major Podcast* hosted by former American professional tennis players Sam Querrey, John Isner, Steve Johnson, and Jack Sock, the current world No. 3 called out the ATP regarding the Masters 1000 format.

"I’d like to play 18 to 20 tournaments a year and be at my best for the Grand Slams, but with the way the ATP is structuring the schedule now, that’s become impossible.

How can you manage it? You have to play nine Masters 1000s, and almost all of them are mandatory. Now, nearly all of them last two weeks, except Monte-Carlo and Paris-Bercy.

I’d say those two tournaments are the two best weeks of the year, both for the fans and for us as tennis players. Last year’s Paris-Bercy tournament was fantastic, and I’m not just saying that because I won it!

You show up, play five matches, and leave. You don’t need to stay around, train between matches. You don’t have to do all that. That’s how the Masters 1000s used to work, and I think all the players loved that format.

Now, you’re required to play four ATP 500s a year, instead of three before. You can’t play fewer than 20 tournaments a year unless you decide to skip these big events. I’m not a fan of the direction this is taking.

Take Alex De Minaur as an example. Last year, he played his last Davis Cup match on November 25 and then played his first match of the next season on December 27 at the United Cup.

We don’t even get a full month off from tennis. How can you take the time to prepare your body for the new season? There’s no time for that anymore—it’s become impossible these days.

The ATP needs to think about all this and find a solution. To be honest, I’ve never heard a single player say that the two-week Masters 1000 format is a good idea. And I’m not even sure tennis consumers and fans in general like it either.

People don’t like waiting two days before their favorite player competes again. I understand tennis is a business, but I’m not sure the current strategy is working well," Zverev stated.