The Tennis Season: A Grueling Schedule and the Quest for Balance
The 2024 professional tennis season officially concluded on December 22nd with Joao Fonseca’s victory over Learner Tien at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Saudi Arabia. The 2025 season was already underway on December 27th with the United Cup in Australia. Fonseca and Tien returned to the court on December 30th for tournaments in Australia and Hong Kong, respectively.
“I don’t know how the ’25 season starts in ’24. It’s a joke.”
Jordan Thompson, 2024 US Open doubles championThe short break between sanctioned events, such as the Next Gen Finals, highlights the scarcity of time professional tennis players have to rest, recover, and prepare for a new season. There was only a little over a month between the Billie Jean King Cup and the Davis Cup and the United Cup. The WTA Finals and the ATP Finals took place in mid-November.
The length of the season, along with the relentless and globalized nature of the circuit, has been a constant complaint among players, but it has intensified in recent years. Alex de Minaur blamed “exhaustion” for his early exit at the French Open this year. Iga Swiatek criticized the demands of the “super intense” calendar when she was unable to participate in a Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in the spring.
Several players, including Frances Tiafoe, Danielle Collins, Jack Draper, and Daria Kasatkina, ended their seasons early this year, citing injuries and mental fatigue.
“The truth is that I have reached a limit and I cannot continue. I need a break. A break from the monotonous daily routine of life on the circuit, the suitcases, the results, the pressure, the same faces (sorry, girls), everything that this life entails,” Kasatkina said in a social media post. “The schedule is too much, mentally and emotionally I am at a breaking point and, unfortunately, I am not alone.”
Daria Kasatkina
As the 2025 season draws to a close and players turn their attention almost immediately to 2026, the conversation about the length and intensity of the tennis season will continue. The big question is: Will anything change in the near future?Taylor Fritz had a standout season in 2024. After reaching the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, he reached his first major tournament final at the US Open. At the end of the season, he had won two ATP titles, reached four finals (including the ATP Finals), won an Olympic bronze medal in doubles with Tommy Paul, and achieved a new career-high ranking of number 4.
However, there was no time to celebrate. In fact, due to his success, his season was only extended, as he secured an invitation to the ATP Finals and would play in the Davis Cup finals.
“There is no preseason, and if you’re a top player, you actually have less preseason,” said Fritz. “If the season ended in Paris [in early November] as it does for most players, then you have a month and a half before the season starts, maybe even a little more, I think maybe an extra week, but if you play the Tour Finals and the Davis Cup, you’re actually adding three more weeks, and then, if you play the United Cup like me, because you’re a top player, it also starts earlier.”
Taylor Fritz
For Fritz, that translated to roughly three weeks between the end of his 2024 season and the start of his 2025 campaign. He returned home in late November and had to leave for Australia on December 21st. And, as he pointed out, there was a lot he had to do during that period.
“People don’t understand that you have to be training during that time,” Fritz said. “Preseason is your time to train, so if I have three weeks, I take one week [to relax or go on vacation] and that’s it. I have one week off all year. It’s absurd.”
Taylor Fritz
Since many players use the time to implement the changes they want to make, whether at a technical level or in terms of their coaching staff, it is a crucial period. But, is it more important than having the opportunity to rest or recover after a physically demanding season on the road? That depends on each player to decide.
For some, the preseason, however brief, marks one of the few times they can spend at home. This is especially true for those from Australia, who spend most of the season living out of a suitcase.
“For me, when I go back to Australia, I just want to go to the beach, relax, take two weeks off from the rackets,” Thompson said at the start of the 2025 season. “But I still have to do a lot of physical work to stay in shape. It’s literally three weeks before you go back into tournament mode. You can’t afford any slip-ups with that amount of free time physically.”
Jordan Thompson
Can a player find time during the season to take a break? Novak Djokovic, 38 years old, former world number 1, only played the important events this summer, omitting all ATP tournaments in June, July and August. His goal was to prioritize winning what would be a number 25 title of a major tournament and spend time with his family. But he is also in an unusual position. He has said that he is not worried about his ranking at this stage of his career, and with more than 190 million dollars earned in on-court prizes, finances are not a concern either.
Circuits require players to play a certain number of tournaments each year. ATP players who qualify must participate in the four major tournaments, eight Masters 1000 level events, and five 500 level tournaments, including one held after the US Open. Top WTA players must also participate in the Grand Slams, in addition to 10 1000 level tournaments and six 500 level events. Seven of the 1000 level tournaments now last 12 days, with several recently extended from one week.
A player can be excused from a major tournament or 1000-level tournaments due to injury, but if a WTA player does not meet the threshold of six tournaments for 500-level events, ranking points will be deducted. Current number 1, Aryna Sabalenka, and number 2, Swiatek, as well as others in the top 10 like Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys, lost points at the end of the 2024 season because they did not participate in the required number of tournaments. Swiatek, who had been number 1 at the time, fell to number 2. ATP players who do not meet the criteria could face reductions in end-of-season bonus pool earnings.
Many of the best players have expressed their opinion on the impact of the duration and requirements of the schedule, especially since they frequently reach the final stages of the tournaments in which they participate.
Swiatek, who had been playing in one of the matches shortened by injury at the China Open in September, was quick to blame the schedule after Camila Osorio, her opponent, retired after the first set of their match. She told reporters that she would probably “have to choose some tournaments and skip them, even if they are mandatory” in the future.
“The WTA, with all these mandatory rules, made it pretty crazy for us,” Swiatek said. “I don’t think any top player can achieve this, playing all six 500 tournaments. It’s simply impossible to fit it into the calendar. I think we have to be smart about it, not really, unfortunately, worry about the rules and just think about what’s healthy for us. Yeah, it’s difficult.”
Iga Swiatek
Swiatek lost in her next match, then reached the quarterfinals in Wuhan before failing to advance from the group stage at the WTA Finals.
The WTA and others in the sport have repeatedly pointed to extended 1000-level tournaments as part of how they could ensure equal prize money at tournaments with their male counterparts.
“I always hear shouts for more prizes, more prizes and this is what the circuit has to [do]: increase the prize money, they have had to extend the duration of these tournaments,” said Anne Keothavong, former player and captain of the British Billie Jean King Cup team, in a recent interview on Sky Sports. “So, what do you want?”.
Anne Keothavong
Gauff, the world number 3, did not disagree with that argument, but said it was “impossible” to meet all the requirements in a given year.
“I guess from a business point of view, it may make sense, but from a player health point of view, I really don’t agree,” Gauff said at the China Open. “Basically, I’ve played all the tennis I could and it’s impossible to keep up with the six 500s. It’s just impossible.”
Coco Gauff
Gauff participated in three 500-level tournaments in 2025, as did Sabalenka, Swiatek, and Anisimova. Keys participated in four. However, that didn’t result in fewer matches. Swiatek played 80 matches, the most on the circuit this season. Sabalenka appeared in 76 (as did WTA Finals champion Elena Rybakina), Gauff in 65, Anisimova in 63, and Keys in 53.
The condition of the best players was on display at the Shanghai Masters in October. Many complained about the brutal heat and humidity and others felt the weight of the long season.
Carlos Alcaraz, world number 1, withdrew before the tournament began due to a left ankle injury. Jannik Sinner, number 2, retired from his third-round match due to cramps. Djokovic vomited during his round of 32 match and needed treatment for a back injury during his semi-final defeat. The final featured Valentin Vacherot, then ranked 204th in the world and the ninth alternate in the rankings, against his cousin Arthur Rinderknech, then ranked 40th. An incredible story, no doubt, but perhaps not the title match that the ATP was hoping for in one of its flagship events.
Last month, the ATP announced that it would add another Masters 1000 level tournament to its calendar starting in 2028, in Saudi Arabia. This will raise the total number in the category to 10, with nine of them mandatory (Monte Carlo remains an optional event). It is not clear exactly when the tournament will be held during the already packed calendar, or if women will also be included.
The French Open, the Australian Open, and the US Open have added an extra day of play to their main draw in recent years, changing the start day from Monday to Sunday. Several players expressed their opposition in New York this year when the US Open implemented it for the first time.
“I’m really not a fan,” said Jessica Pegula, currently ranked number 6. “I don’t know why they had to make it even longer. Well, I know why they did it: they can sell tickets for an extra day.”
Jessica PegulaBrad Stine, Tommy Paul’s long-time coach, acknowledges that the debate around the length of the season is nothing new. He has been a coach at the professional level since 1990, when he began working with Jim Courier, and he has heard it all over the years.
While Stine believes that the ATP and WTA should get rid of the “mandatory” distinction in tournaments and ensure that there is a week or two of rest after each Grand Slam, he also believes that players should be less “paranoid” about losing ranking points and skipping tournaments whenever they feel they need a break.
“Nobody is forced to play. You can take time off whenever you want to take time off,” he said.
Brad Stine
Furthermore, he believes that many of the players undermine their concerns by participating in high-paying exhibitions during the off-season, or other breaks in the schedule.
“There doesn’t seem to be a shortage of players looking to participate in those events,” Stine said. “Some of them are the players who are advocates for a shorter season. ‘We need more breaks, we need a shorter season.’ But then, when they are given the opportunity to have time off, they choose to play more events.”
Brad Stine
Alcaraz, one of the most vocal advocates for the need for a shorter season, participated in the lucrative Six Kings Slam in October and is scheduled to participate in several other exhibition events in December, including in New York, Newark, and Miami. He was quick to dismiss the correlation.
“It’s a different format, a different situation to play exhibitions than official tournaments, 15, 16 days in a row, with so much concentration and physical demand,” Alcaraz said during a press conference at the Six Kings Slam. “We’re just having fun for a day or two and playing tennis, and that’s great, and that’s why we choose exhibitions. I understand [the criticism], but sometimes people don’t understand us, our opinions. It’s not really mentally demanding [compared to] when we have events as long as two weeks or two and a half weeks.”
Carlos Alcaraz
While it seems that most players believe that something has to change, the details present a challenge.
“It just needs to be shortened. It’s too much,” Fritz said when asked what should be changed. “It’s too much.”
Taylor Fritz
He added that he did not believe that changes were coming.
“I don’t think they’re listening to us,” he said. “I think we have me, Carlos, and Sasha [Zverev], so three of the top four players in the world saying that it just needs to be shortened, and there’s really been no conversation about the change.”
Taylor Fritz
And it’s not that simple. While it might sound logical, for example, to end the season after the US Open with the year-end finals shortly after, that leaves 12 WTA and 13 ATP tournaments (in addition to the Billie Jean King Cup, the Davis Cup and the Laver Cup) currently on the books without a place on the calendar. Organizations and host cities pay a premium license fee to host each event, and prices vary depending on the level of the tournament, and they typically sign multi-year agreements to do so.
While the changes have been few and far between, there have been some.
The Billie Jean King Cup final, which was played in November last year and in recent seasons, was moved to September to allow for a longer preseason for WTA players this year. It was also held in Shenzhen, China, for the first time, allowing many players to participate seamlessly in the Asian tour immediately afterwards. (However, the playoffs to determine the qualifying teams for the 2026 tournament will take place from November 14 to 16 and will feature 21 countries). The Davis Cup maintained its previous schedule and is scheduled to begin on November 18 in Bologna, Italy, and conclude on November 23.
There have been discussions about more significant changes. In 2024, the four Grand Slams initiated initial conversations for a “Premier Tour”, with an annual calendar that would consist of the major tournaments, approximately 10 more events, and a year-end final.
In response, the WTA and ATP proposed a similar version of the idea to the Slams, in an effort to “restructure the sport,” in the spring of this year. That plan would also include the four major tournaments, 10 level 1000 events, 17 level 500 events for the WTA and 16 for the ATP, and a reduction of level 250 tournaments through the repurchase of licenses. Ultimately, it would decrease the number of tournaments between the two organizations from 118 to approximately 75. But the WTA and ATP failed to convince the Grand Slams of the idea, according to reports, in part due to the proposed board structure to oversee the new venture.
But while drastically transforming the sport might be off the table, at least for now, there are other, smaller ways to address the problem. Former world number 1 Andy Roddick contemplated moving the order of events in the fall calendar on a recent episode of his podcast “Served”.
“Why can’t [ATP 250 tournaments like the Nordic Open and the European Open] exist after the World Tour finals?” Roddick asked. “Why can’t we have a wrap-around season where these [250s] last a month [before the new year]? [If] more players want more opportunities, great, then do it. And then the best players, if they choose to play Six Kings or another exhibition, then they can no longer complain that the calendar is too long because it’s not crammed in the middle of the year. [As it is] they have to fill some space. They have to play something before the World Tour Finals. If it ends in the second half of November, something has to give. We have to aim to finish before November 1st.”
Andy Roddick
The WTA and ATP are no strangers to the complaints and concerns of their players. In a statement provided to ESPN, the WTA called the well-being of athletes a “top priority” and said that the organization is in constant communication with the players, including through the players’ council and representatives on the WTA Board.
“After an exhaustive review, our player and tournament representatives voted in favor of introducing improvements to the circuit season structure in 2024,” the WTA statement continued. “The updated structure offers significant increases in player compensation ($400 million over the next few years), adds more competitive opportunities at all levels of the circuit, and establishes clearer player participation guidelines for top-ranked players to ensure stronger fields at premier events, all while making it easier for fans to follow and connect with the players and the season.”
The organization added that it was “committed to keeping the circuit structure under review”.
When asked for comment, the ATP directed ESPN to an August interview with chairman Andrea Gaudenzi. In it, Gaudenzi called the schedule “complex” but said an ATP goal was to “extend the off-season.” However, he added that the ATP was one of many professional tennis organizing bodies with a say over the calendar and emphasized the individual nature of tennis.
“One player could be out in the first round, another is lifting the trophy after the final,” Gaudenzi said. “Finding a solution that works for both ends of that spectrum is never simple, and you can’t build a calendar around a single cohort of players. All cohorts must be considered.”
Andrea Gaudenzi
But it is clear that, no matter how separated the players and the factual powers may seem to be in terms of the schedule, the current situation is precarious at best.
Djokovic, who spent several years on the ATP player council and founded the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) in 2020, has long been a fierce critic of the current and evolving calendar and, according to his estimation, has been against it for “more than 15 years”. But even he acknowledged that it is a “very complex” issue when asked about it before the Shanghai Masters event in October.
Ultimately, he said that if the players wanted to see a change, they would simply have to do more and learn the various layers of the tennis ecosystem.
“In the end, as a player and someone who has been playing at the highest level for more than 20 years, I can say that the players are not united enough,” Djokovic said. “The players are not participating enough when they should. So they make comments and complain, and then they leave… But you have to invest the time, you have to invest energy yourself… to understand how the system works, to understand what are the things that can be done to be reversed, to be improved in terms of the players’ interest.”
Novak Djokovic
“Because going on the media and talking about this and that, it’s fine, it could generate some energy or some attention. But at the end of the day, nothing is going to change, you know? I know it from my personal experience, believe me”.
