Stefanos Tsitsipas isn't fazed by Stan Wawrinka's recent criticism as he once again slammed two-week Masters tournaments and complained that this season was "the most exhausting" in his career.
From this season, Madrid and Rome also switched to 12 days - or as some prefer to call them two-week events. Next year, the Canadian Masters and Cincinnati will also expand. That will leave Monte Carlo and Paris as the lone Masters tournaments taking place under the old format.
When it comes to Tsitsipas, he appeared in 23 tournaments this year and posted a 45-22 record. After a slow start to the year, the 26-year-old picked up steam during the clay season as he won Monte Carlo - finished as runner-up in Barcelona - and also reached the Rome and French Open quarterfinals. But after that, the former world No. 3 hit slump and didn't have much success in the second part of 2024.
For the first time since debuting at the ATP Finals in 2019, Tsitsipas didn't make the season-ending tournament. However, he did come to Turin as an alternate but didn't get to play any matches.
"Its been exhausting and this year was perhaps the most exhausting year that Ive had on the tour. It did take a mental toll on me to be at certain tournaments more than what I typically expect to be," the current world No. 11 told Sky Sports.
Tsitsipas firm in his position on two-week Masters tournaments
After ripping the expansion of Masters events as "a backwards move," the two-time Grand Slam finalist was called out by Stan Wawrinka, who posted a clip from a few years back, which showed the Greek sitting with ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi and discussing the Tour's plans for the future. In the footage, the 11-time ATP champion can be heard approving the expansion plans.
But after experiencing it, Tsitsipas is not a fan of it all.
"The Masters 1000 new concept hasnt been great and I havent really been a huge fan of it and Im willing to express it, I dont mind because thats my opinion. I really want to make it actually better for the rest of us to have a solid schedule, to have days that make sense in terms of competition. I guess my position in that is also to try and help tennis on its own and give my own opinions as a tennis player that is facing those challenges but also has to play these weekly tournaments and make it as efficient and as good as possible for the rest of us," the 26-year-old explained.
How Tsitsipas previously slammed the expansions of Masters tournaments?
Earlier this month, Andy Roddick discussed the two-week Masters matter on his podcast. And when doing so, he offered scathing criticism of it, calling it "so stupid" and "the worst." Also, he said that players don't like it at all.
"The two-week 1000s are so stupid. Theyre so stupid, theyre so dumb. Its the worst, I hate it. I feel like more people got injured because you cant do the work on off-weeks to build your body up physically. If youre playing every other day, you cant go and do the intense work. The players are saying this. The feedback has been bad," the 2003 US Open winner said on the Served with Andy Roddick.
After hearing about what the American tennis legend had to say, Tsitsipas joined in on ripping the two-week format, saying it "turned into a drag" and made the game "go backwards."
"The two-week Masters 1000s have turned into a drag. The quality has definitely dropped. Players arent getting the recovery or training time they need, with constant matches and no space for the intense work off the court. Its ironic that the @atptour 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 its supposed to be. If the goal was to ease the calendar, extending every 1000 to two weeks is a backwards move. Sometimes, it feels like theyre fixing what wasnt broken," the 2023 Australian Open finalist wrote on X.
For Tsitsipas, the 2024 season wasn't the best, considering that he made only one Grand Slam quarterfinal and also finished the year outside the top-10 for the first time in years.
However, becoming a Grand Slam champion remains the Greek's biggest dream and goal.
