A lot has been made of the hectic ATP schedule recently, as players continue to campaign for change.
Earlier this month, world number two Carlos Alcaraz said he wanted the ATP to remove events from the schedule, so players can have more time to rest and recover.
The Spaniard has been vocal about his concerns over the schedule, suggesting the concentration of events would lead to players getting injured.
Unfortunately, Alcaraz may have been right, as Russia’s Karen Khachanov suffered a back injury recently, a problem that may well have been caused by the 29-year-old’s quick turnaround from Toronto to Cincinnati.
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After the match, Khachanov suggested it may be time for the ATP to look at the schedule, as he now hopes to recover from injury with the US Open fast approaching.
Khachanov and Alcaraz aren’t the only players complaining, as it’s clear to see that something needs to be done about the schedule.
Weighing in with his thoughts, Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has proposed some radical changes to the tennis schedule.
Craig Tiley proposes radical changes which would give players an ‘eight-week off-season’
During the latest episode of ‘The Tennis’, Tiley shared an idea for the tennis schedule he and the other Grand Slam tournament directors have been working on.
“We have been working, the Grand Slams particularly have been working, to have a content at the top end of the tree, the top 100 players,” he said.
“Where it’s very specific about the length and time of the events, the cities you play, eight to nine week proper off-season, strong narrative for the fans. Governed as one, you have the four Slams, another 11, 12 events, one team event, so you’re maybe playing 16, 17 events.
“Then you have a feed-in system, where there are several times in the year, like in golf, where you compete to get your card, you compete to get yourself in the top 32, top 16, 56, whatever that number is going to be, then the fan kind of understands where you’re going, what it means.
“You know, as a player, I’ve got that period I’m playing, then I’ve got that mid-season rest period, I’ve got the end of the season. There’s too much sideshow stuff going on right now, and we’ve got to deal with the core.”
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Tiley proceeded to outline what the ‘core’ issues are, comparing how tennis and golf differ in that regard.
“The core is to get the narrative right, get the tour right, particularly on the top end, get the feeder system right. Everyone has a role to play. There are probably too many people involved in making decisions,” he said.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got your four pillars in the sport, like you have in golf. The four masters [majors] in golf, every golfer, it’s absolutely history and tradition that they compete in the four masters. Similar to tennis, you have the four majors.
“But the difference in golf is that those four masters don’t drive the economic powerhouse of the sport. They’re only about 10% of the economic value. The other 90% is the PGA Tour. In tennis, it’s about 55- 60% driven by the four majors, so it’s an imbalance.
“The commercials of the tour need to pick up. But how that gets done is by creating an aggregate, by all coming together. It’s hard to do it by yourself. There’s a lot of good work that’s been done by the tours over the years, but probably not enough.”
The 63-year-old believes player welfare has been ‘forgotten’ over the years as the schedule became more packed, which is partly why he is suggesting reform.
“What gets forgotten in the player voice is player welfare, what gets forgotten in the player voice is the time to regroup, there’s not a proper off-season. The element of player welfare is too low down on the priority list when we make decisions about the schedule,” said Tiley.
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“Yes, there are commercial reasons for doing this. This is indicative of the poor organisation of our sport. We have seven governing bodies, each fighting for their own territory and their own position in the calendar.
“The coordination amongst those governing bodies is not at the level that it needs to be to be successful from a player’s perspective.
“When a player goes into a longer Masters 1000 event and you’re adding 21 days to the calendar, players want to play exhibitions in December, then they turn around a week later and start the year again, it’s not right.”
Tiley certainly has some big plans, but what would his new schedule look like?
What could Craig Tiley’s ATP schedule look like?
The South African didn’t go into too much detail about how his ideal schedule would look, but with what he mentioned, it could be something like this.
EventMonthTournamentSurfaceTier1JanuaryUnited CupHardUnited Cup2JanuaryAustralian OpenHardGrand SlamFeeder-eventsJanuary-February–Hard/ClayATP 250/5003MarchIndian WellsHardMasters 10004MarchMiami OpenHardMasters 1000Feeder-eventsMarch-April–ClayATP 250/5005AprilMonte-Carlo MastersClayMasters 10006April Madrid OpenClayMasters 10007MayItalian OpenClayMasters 10008May-JuneFrench OpenClayGrand SlamFeeder-eventsJune–GrassATP 250/500Mid-season breakJune-July–––9JulyWimbledonGrassGrand SlamFeeder-eventsJuly–HardATP 250/50010AugustCanadian OpenHardMasters 100011AugustCincinnati OpenHardMasters 100012August-SeptemberUS OpenHardGrand SlamFeeder-eventsSeptember–HardATP 250/50013September- OctoberShanghai MastersHardMasters 100014OctoberParis MastersHardMasters 100015October-NovemberATP FinalsHardATP FinalsOff-seasonNovember-January–––What Craig Tiley’s ATP schedule could look like
Only time will tell if Tiley’s ideas are ever put into practice, but it will certainly be something to look out for in the future.
The stars of the ATP Tour are currently competing at the Cincinnati Open Masters 1000 event, which is set to finish on Monday, August 18.