Andy Roddick has lashed out at ATP regarding the scheduling of ATP Masters 1000 tournaments with the trend that increasingly leads to creating two-week tournaments for this category of events. A change that Roddick calls stupid and that he says he hates in the strongest possible way. Roddick has expressed his disapproval without missing a beat, underlining that longer tournaments have the effect of creating more wear and tear on players, rather than offering a better show.
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In his podcast Served with, the former American tennis player explained: "I can honestly say that the two weeks of the ATP Masters 1000 are so stupid. It's the worst thing. I hate it. There's a feeling that more players have gotten injured because you can't work in your off weeks to get stronger physically. If you play every other day you can't go and do intense work. The players say that. Maybe the calendar shouldn't have been so busy. Paris-Bercy was great: one week. It's great. All you have to do is open up the calendar and what do we do? We do the Masters 1000 over two weeks. Oh, that will help the calendar!"
The format has sparked a lot of debate, with many tennis players expressing doubts. Others, however, support the change, which effectively opens the doors of the ATP Masters 1000 to a greater number of players.
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