Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini reveal an alternative view on extended WTA 1000 events
The decision to extend the marquee events on the WTA and ATP Tours has received widespread criticism from the game’s top players, tennis fans and the media, but world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka has served up an alternative view.
Most of the WTA 1000 and ATP Masters events are now stretched over 12 days, which ensures organisers can collect extra revenue from ticket sales on site and maximise broadcast revenue, but the decision has led to claims that the extended events are increasing the risk of injury for players and extending the season.
The argument that players have longer rest days between matches in the longer tournaments is valid, but they are also required to spend a lot more time on the road, which is draining both mentally and physically.
Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev are among those who have expressed their dislike of the extended tournaments, but US Open champion Sabalenka has served up a different view.
“With me getting older, probably I prefer to play two weeks, so I have an extra day for the recovery,” said Sabalenka, responding to a question from Tennis365 at the Wuhan Open, which is one of the last remaining WTA 1000 events played over just one week.
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“Also, I didn’t play Beijing, so physically, I’m ready to play every day. So probably I would prefer every day matches and get it done in one week and have some extra time for recovery and preparation for the finals.
“So, like throughout the year, I prefer two weeks. Like Indian Wells, Miami and Madrid I prefer two weeks so we can have those but maybe by the end of the year, they should make it shorter.”
Sabalenka’s top ten rival Jasmine Paolini echoed those sentiments, as she admitted her commitment to playing doubles with her compatriot Sara Errani is eased by longer WTA 1000 tournaments.
I think probably the best solution will be, some tournaments can be two weeks and some can be one week,” said Paolini, who won the WTA 1000 title in front of her home fans in Rome amid memorable scenes last May.
“Now we have more two weeks tournament and it’s not easy because we don’t have much time to rest and to practice.
“At the same time, I realised that playing singles and doubles, maybe it’s better to have two weeks event for me, but yeah, probably the best solution is to have some weeks to come back to one week tournament. Not all of them, to me, but some of them.”
There is no doubt that fans get a better deal with the shorter events as the matches are more condensed and we don’t reach the back end of a tournament with limited matches on the schedule, but this story is still unfolding.
The commercial pressures to make all WTA 1000 and ATP Masters events 12-day events may eventually mean all those events will be played over the longer format, with the upcoming ATP Masters in Paris one of only two one-week ATP 1000 tournaments left on the men’s tour.
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