Stefanos Tsitsipas has repeatedly criticised the ATP for extending most Masters 1000 tournaments from seven days to 12, despite getting on board with the idea a few years ago. The former world No. 3 appeared in a 2022 video alongside ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi, discussing the ‘OneVision’ plan, which included lengthening seven of the nine Masters events, but has since changed his mind and branded it a “backwards move”.
And the Greek star has now launched a new complaint, suggesting that the players should be better compensated for their efforts if they are being made to compete more frequently. Tsitsipas claimed the ATP “promised” him that players would receive more prize money when the Masters 1000 tournaments were extended – but he now feels short-changed.
“The most frustrating part about this is, okay, you’re making us work more, which is fine. Make us work more, but at least increase prize money. I got promised back in the day when I had an interview with the chairman of the ATP. He shared with me the ‘OneVision’ thing, and it all seemed alright when he was presenting it and sharing it with me,” Tsitsipas said while appearing on the What’s the Call podcast.
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“But there hasn’t been a significant change with prize money and compensation for players for getting to play more. I understand the reason they’re doing it is for streaming, selling more tickets, and obviously, there are so many reasons why this is happening. But it also creates much more fatigue and injury for players, and I don’t think it’s accidental that 2025 was the year with the most retirements on the ATP Tour.
“I’m not saying those Masters 1000s should go down to seven days, but at least they’ve got to find a sweet balance where we can still go over the normal amount but go within reason. Because the way they did it, they really extended it way too far ahead.”
The Masters 1000 events are the premier tournaments on the ATP Tour and are considered the highest tier below the Grand Slam tournaments. At the end of 2024, Tsitsipas hit out at the longer, 12-day iterations of the events during the Paris Masters, which remains just one week long.
“It’s ironic that the @atptour committed to this format without knowing if it could actually improve the schedule, but the quality likewise. Paris got it right, done in a week. Exciting and easy to follow. Just how it’s supposed to be. If the goal was to ease the calendar, extending every 1000 to two weeks is a backwards move. Sometimes, it feels like they’re fixing what wasn’t broken,” he tweeted.
“The Masters 1000 new concept hasn’t been great and I haven’t really been a huge fan of it and I’m willing to express it, I don’t mind because that’s my opinion. I really want to make it actually better for the rest of us to have a solid schedule, to have days that make sense in terms of competition,” he told Sky Sports at the time.
