Murray criticizes the extended Masters 1000: "I was against this change"

The former world No. 1 revisits the reform that extended most Masters 1000 to twelve days and explains why he opposed it from the start.

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Jules Hypolite

le 01/12/2025 à 15h34

2 min to read

Murray

Retired for just over a year, Andy Murray had briefly returned to the tour this year as Novak Djokovic's coach.

An unprecedented duo that didn't last long, Murray left his position as early as May. Since then, public appearances by the former world No. 1 have become rarer, but he agreed to participate in the latest episode of The Tennis Podcast released this Monday.

"You have the right to miss tournaments"

The Briton first took the time to give his opinion on the problems players face regarding the schedule:

"One of my regrets is that many players are content to follow what the schedule imposes on them. Novak this year, or Federer in the past, did not follow the schedule. You have the right to miss tournaments. Of course, there are sanctions in place for that. You have to find a certain balance."

"I was against this change"

Murray then continued with the extension of the Masters 1000, seven of which (out of the nine existing) are now played over twelve days:

"I was sitting on the players' council when the reform was voted on. I was against this change because I liked the Masters 1000 format, those tournaments were fantastic.

At the time, the ATP thought that by giving a day of rest between matches, there would be fewer injuries. But I considered that if you set up a two-week tournament, players have less time to recover.

I think part of the problem today is that there is no evidence that players are getting injured more than before; there have always been injuries. But I think players are more tired, physically and mentally, than they were before because they spend more time away from home.

In my opinion, that's what players feel today: they are simply away longer and travel more than before, rather than playing matches that are really more grueling than 10 or 15 years ago."