Follow us on Google Discover The ATP Tour schedule has changed again, with the announcement of a new Masters 1000 tournament.
News broke on Thursday that a new Saudi Arabian Masters event will begin in 2028.
The tournament will be non-mandatory and will likely be played in February, during the Middle Eastern swing.
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Throughout 2025, players have expressed their concerns about the volume of tennis they are currently playing, and may well be frustrated to see another tournament added to the calendar.
One ATP Tour player provided a ‘simple solution’ to the calendar issues earlier this year, which has seemingly been ignored…
Alex de Minaur had a ‘simple solution’ to the tennis calendar problem
After suffering a shock early exit at the 2025 French Open, De Minaur shared his idea on how to fix the schedule.
“The solution is simple, you shorten the schedule,” he said.
The Australian proceeded to suggest what may happen to players’ careers if the tour doesn’t change.
“My ranking consists of two zeros because I was injured and I couldn’t play Cincinnati, Montreal, and Shanghai, [in 2024], which is ridiculous if you ask me, but that’s just the rules of the tour and where we are right now,” said De Minaur.
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“The solution is you shorten it, because what’s going to happen is players’ careers are going to get shorter and shorter because they’re going to burn out mentally, it’s just too much tennis.”
Norway’s Casper Ruud, who suffered an injury at the French Open, shared similar concerns during his post-match press conference.
“You feel you’re obligated to play with certain rules that the ATP has set up with the mandatory events. You feel like you lose a lot if you don’t show up and play, both economically, point-wise, ranking-wise, and opportunity-wise,” he said.
“If you don’t play a mandatory event, they cut 25% of your year-end bonus. You’re kind of forcing players to show up injured or sick.”
Ruud may be glad to hear that the new event in Saudi Arabia will be non-mandatory, meaning players won’t be punished for skipping the tournament.
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That’s not to say they won’t be encouraged to play, however, as big appearance fees and the lure of 1,000 points will be hard to turn down.
Only time will tell whether players will choose to compete at the Saudi Arabian Masters when the event is added to the calendar in 2028.
How many matches has Alex de Minaur played in 2025?
De Minaur was vocal about his struggles with burnout earlier this year, but just how much tennis has he played so far in 2025?
Beginning his season at the United Cup last December, De Minaur has played 22 tournaments and 71 matches this season.
Tournament numberTournamentPerformanceMatches playedAccumulative matches played1United CupLost in RR222Australian OpenLost in QF57–Davis Cup qualifierWon 183Rotterdam OpenLost in F5134Qatar OpenLost in QF3165Dubai Tennis ChampionshipsLost in 1R1176Indian WellsLost in 4R3207Miami OpenLost in 4R3238Monte-Carlo MastersLost in SF4279Barcelona OpenLost in QF33010Madrid OpenLost in 4R33311Italian OpenLost in 4R33612French OpenLost in 2R23813Queen’s Club ChampionshipsLost in 1R13914WimbledonLost in 4R44315Washington OpenChampion54816Canadian OpenLost in QF35117Cincinnati OpenLost in 2R15218US OpenLost in QF557–Davis Cup playoffsLost25919Laver CupLost26120China OpenLost in SF46521Shanghai MastersLost in QF46922Vienna Open QF*271Alex de Minaur’s 2025 schedule
Having already crossed the 70-match mark for the year, it’s not hard to understand why De Minaur wants to see a few tournaments dropped from the calendar.
Even without the new event in Saudi Arabia, De Minaur could quite easily play 80 matches this year, given the events left on his schedule.
Vienna Open (1 match guaranteed)Paris Masters (1 match guaranteed)ATP Finals (3 matches guaranteed)
It remains to be seen if the ATP Tour will one day listen to De Minaur’s complaints, but for now, it looks like he and his fellow pros will have to deal with the growing calendar.