The players are greedy," Bertolucci says about the Shanghai tournament

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Clément Gehl

le 07/10/2025 à 12h22

1 min to read

Alcaraz Bertolucci Sinner

Paolo Bertolucci, former Italian player, spoke about the numerous withdrawals at the Shanghai Masters 1000 for the newspaper La Repubblica.

According to him, players should more easily skip tournaments but are mostly guided by money. He explains: "Under these conditions, cramps happen. Nothing strange.

I only had one on the court, I was in a complete frenzy. While commentating the match against Griekspoor on television, I immediately knew that Sinner was going to withdraw.

So many withdrawals and controversies? The players are greedy. They play, they take, and they don't stop. The organizers do everything to get the best players.

Without the big names, the tournament loses its appeal, and without the most charismatic names, even sponsors flee, there's less attraction.

Tennis has become brutal. Less technique, less tactics, more physicality. Jannik was absent for three months; he needs to get back on the court as often as possible to regain his form and his game. Carlos Alcaraz has an ankle problem, which explains his break.

It's the others who should stop. Today, we seek spectacle at all costs, but it's possible not to find it. Tennis players should withdraw. They complain, protest, but they enter tournaments. They even organize exhibitions.

And they take the prize money. They don't let go of anything. The schedule is packed, there are fifty weeks of play per year, but tennis players are not forced to participate in every tournament.