Emma Raducanu reveals why she is a big fan of a contentious change in tennis
The extension of the marquee tennis tournaments on the men’s and women’s tours has sparked plenty of debate over the last couple of years and most of the feedback has been negative, but Emma Raducanu has insisted she is a fan of the format.
ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and WTA 1000 events were traditionally played over one week, with players competing every day at the back end of the tournament as they were tested physically as well as technically.
Now the showpiece tournaments on the regular tours are played over almost two weeks, with qualifying extending the events to the length of Grand Slams.
Some have suggested the expanded tournaments are too long, with players having days off in between matches as organisers look to sell more tickets and give television audiences tennis over a longer period.
Yet 2021 US Open champion Raducnau is a big fan of the longer format, as she suggests the time off between matches gives her time to recover.
Raducanu recorded her best win of the year as she beat world No 10 Emma Navarro to reach the Miami Open third round for the first time, with the gruelling nature of that match ensuring she needed the Saturday off to try and recover.
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“I think it’s amazing that we get a day in between, to be honest,” Raducanu told reporters. “I think it helps so much with the recovery.
“I’m quite a big fan of these longer events, just because it gives us time to recover, especially, you know, by the time we finish everything, press, treatment, eating, by the time we get back and I’m second on, I’ll be home, like, 9:00 p.m., I think it’s great that I have a day off to recover.
“I think this week I have been trying to keep it more relaxed, I would say, not necessarily being in the zone 100% of the time. Just, like, I’m learning how to throw an American football, so that has become my warmup.
“So the first 30 minutes of my warmup is like sports day. It’s like American football, football, and then cornhole, and then, depending, either maybe some golf or something, like kick Frisbee.
“That’s been keeping me entertained, but it’s also a great pulse raiser, because I find it easier to put more effort in when we’re playing American football and running to catch it rather than running in a straight line. It’s a lot more fun.”
Raducanu has struggled with fitness issues since her breakthrough Grand Slam win in New York, with Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas offering an alternative view after claiming the longer events are not helping players.
“The two-week Masters 1000s have turned into a drag,” said Tsitsipas. “The quality has definitely dropped. Players aren’t getting the recovery or training time they need with constant matches and no space for the intense work off the court,” Tsitsipas said on X.
“It’s ironic that the ATP Tour 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 (Masters) to two weeks is a backwards move. Sometimes, it feels like they’re fixing what wasn’t broken.”
World No 2 Alexander Zverev also insists the longer Masters 1000 tournaments are not helpful, as he argued days without a match are not ‘rest’ days.
“You have a day in between (matches), you don’t have to play every day. At the end of the day that’s not resting,” said Zverev.
“Resting is when you’re spending time at home, when you’re sleeping in your own bed, maybe with your family, maybe with your dogs, maybe with your kids… That’s what resting is.
“If you’re at a different place, that’s not resting. If you’re going deep in events… if you’re trying to make semi-finals or finals of every event, you’re just away a lot longer and you have to work a lot more. It’s as simple as that.”
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