Jack Draper joins Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas in criticising new Masters 1000 format

Ewan West 02 May 2025 9:37 AM

Jack Draper during his match

Jack Draper has expressed his concern that the revamped Masters 1000 format is making the tour “very taxing” for players and suggested the schedule is contributing to some of the inconsistent results.

The ongoing Madrid Open is one of the seven Masters tournaments that the ATP Tour has expanded to two weeks (12 days), along with Indian Wells, Miami, Rome, Canada, Cincinnati and Shanghai. The singles draws at these events now feature 96 players.

Monte Carlo and Paris are the only two tournaments in this category that have retained the single-week format.

Prior to the changes, seven of the nine Masters events were played over a week and featured 56-player singles draws, with Indian Wells and Miami each lasting 10 days.

Many fans feel the two-week format produces an inferior spectacle, with the traditional schedule in Monte Carlo arguably delivering the most entertaining Masters event of the season so far.

Several high-profile players — including Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas — have also been critical of the 12-day tournaments.

“The one week ones are better. Some will think that in two weeks there are days of rest, but that is not the case,” Alcaraz said last month.

“You train, you have to mentally prepare for the game, prepare for it… you’re not resting, really. It’s two full weeks. That’s why I prefer the one-week Masters 1000. For me, it’s better for tennis.”

After dismantling Matteo Arnaldi 6-0, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters, Draper argued the relentless schedule is a “scary proposition” for players.

“I think the way the tour is at the moment and these two-week events and less weeks to be at home, less weeks to train, it just seems like you’re on a constant rabbit wheel, and there’s no way off it,” said the 23-year-old Brit.

“I think that’s scary to think about as a player. You know, to think that, look, I know we’re earning good money, and we’re playing in front of great crowds, and something I love to do, but it’s mentally very, very taxing.

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“[It’s] something that I hope that potentially the ATP and the tours come together at some point and, I don’t know, clean it up a little bit, I suppose, to make it so that there is a bit more space to train and to work on our bodies.

“I think for me, the big thing is, I think the quality can suffer a little bit. I think there’s a lot of top players who are in and out with their performances, and it’s just purely because it’s just overplaying.

“People look on TV and they think, ‘Oh, that was a bad performance’ and stuff. It is mentally difficult every day to show up and to give it a hundred percent. And, you know, we have lives as well, there’s things going on off the court all the time. We’re not robots.

“I think it is a scary proposition what’s ahead, you know, the fact that it is a long career. But then again, you know, I don’t have to play until I’m 35, I can do everything and get the best out of myself, and I’ll stop when I feel like I’m ready.”

The world No 6 will face Lorenzo Musetti in the semi-finals in Madrid on Friday.