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Top players such as Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz previously complained about the lengthy season, and Andy Murray feels like they were right to do so. The expansion of most Masters 1000 tournaments to two weeks has been the biggest bone of contention between the players and the ATP Tour.
During his press conference at the Paris Masters 2025, Alcaraz urged the higher-ups to do something about the length of the calendar. Fritz also shared the same sentiment. During his recent appearance on The Tennis Podcast, Murray felt players were justified to complain. He didn't buy the ATP's reasoning of two-week tournaments leading to prevention of injuries.
"I was sitting on the ATP player council when this got voted for, to change the Masters to longer events. And I was completely against that change because I liked the Masters how they were, I thought they were great events. The feeling from ATP at the time was that there would be less injuries because you would have more time to recover between matches," Murray said.
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Murray felt that extended tournaments lead to more fatigue. He believes that this exhaustion and being on the road for most of the year is what causes players to burn out.
"My feeling was that yeah, if you put like two week tournaments on, there's less time for players to actually recover as well. I think part of the issue now is where I don't think there's anything that suggests that players are getting injured more than before," Murray said.
"I think there's always been injuries and that, but I do think players are more tired and I think mentally are more fatigued than they were before because they're spending more days away and more days on the road. And when you're more fatigued, you're more sensitive to pain and discomfort," he added.
Murray has often been the voice of reason. His status as an all-time great could cause the powers that be to reconsider the current players' concerns. Despite his issues with the length of the season, Alcaraz isn't distancing himself from tennis during the off-season.
Carlos Alcaraz remains unfazed despite criticism towards his appearance at multiple exhibition events
Carlos Alcaraz is set to partake in two exhibition events in December 2025, and another one in January 2026 before the Australian Open. With his repeated gripe against the prolonged ATP season, many felt it was hypocritical for him to compete during the off-season.
However, Alcaraz doesn't see it that way. While he understands why many would take an issue with it, for him exhibitions are an one-off thing. They don't command his full attention like a regular ATP tournament.
"But for me, the main difference is that, at a tournament, you’ve got to keep your focus and it’s really physically and mentally demanding for one week and a half. And an exhibition is just one day. You just stay focused, just warm up, just practice not that much — for one match," Alcaraz told the Associated Press.
Alcaraz will be seen in action in New Jersey on December 7, followed by another quick exhibition in Miami the following day. He will prepare for the Australian Open with another exhibition in South Korea on January 10.
