Jim Courier hits back at players with facts over complaints about lengthy tennis season
The never-ending debate about the lengthy calendar is back in the spotlight with players once again pleading for more time off at the end of the season, but former world No 1 Jim Courier argues that most players have a long enough break between campaigns.
The 2025 ATP and WTA Tour seasons started in late December last year and the WTA campaign came to a conclusion with the WTA Finals in Riyadh on December 8. The ATP will finish this Sunday with the ATP Finals, but top players still have to compete at the Davis Cup Finals, which runs from November 18 to 23.
As for the 2026 campaign, both Tours will get underway on January 2 with the United Cup in Australia with the Hong Kong Open, Brisbane International and ASB Classic starting a few days later.
The likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Jack Draper, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are among the big stars to complain about the long season.
Swiatek and Gauff’s season ended with the WTA Finals while Draper’s campaign finished in September due to injury. Alcaraz and Zverev and are in action at the ATP Finals and will also compete at the Davis Cup Finals.
World No 2 Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, won’t feature at the Davis Cup Finals as he decided to make himself unavailable in order to extend his off-season.
Despite the complaints from players, tennis chiefs have stuck to their guns as they have refused to shorten the season.
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During a Tennis Channel debate, Courier stated that the off-season is long enough.
“This has been a topic of discussion for as long as I have been around in professional tennis and it largely stems from the top players because they are the ones who play the [ATP and WTA] Tour Finals, they are the ones largely involved in the Davis Cup Finals,” the American said.
“The Billie Jean King Cup Finals also used to take place at the end of the season, but they have now moved that up.
“So let’s set the table on what reality actually is with the schedule, because the players may not recognise how much time they have.
“I heard Jack Draper say that an ideal off-season for him would be six weeks off. Well, guess what – the players with the least amount of time off are those who make the Davis Cup Final next week. They will get six weeks off before the next tournament, the first tournament of the 2026 season.
“If you’re a WTA top-100 player who didn’t make the WTA Finals, you get 10 weeks off since the last mandatory event – which was the WTA 500 in Tokyo. For the men, the last mandatory event the 1000 event in Paris – that is nine weeks off.
“The WTA finalists finished last week, they get two months off. The guys who are playing now but not going to the Davis Cup Final, like Jannik Sinner, get seven weeks off. So there’s a lot more off-season that some of the public understand realise.
“I’m not necessarily saying that that’s enough, I personally think that it is, I think there is more of a problem, taking breaks during the season, not just in the off-season to give yourself a chance to refresh.
“But it is really important that we set the table for what the facts actually are because facts are very loosely used in this discussion often.”
As for the 2026 season, Swiatek, Gauff, Fritz and Zverev will start their campaigns early as they will feature at the United Cup, but players like Alcaraz and Sinner will not be in official action before the Australian Open, which gets underway on January 18.
However, Alcaraz and Sinner will play an exhibition event before the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbouren Park.
