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World No 5 Alexander Zverev said the newly-expanded Masters tournaments that span 12 days give top players less opportunities to recharge their batteries as they spend more time away from home. Five of the nine Masters events, which are a level below the grand slams, are 12-day tournaments with 96-player draws. The ATP said in March that two more would go the same way from next year to enhance the experience for fans.
Both Madrid and Rome joined the list last year and Zverev, speaking ahead of the Italian Open, said it was not ideal playing back-to-back tournaments of that scale. “The two-week Masters 1000 events are great for players ranked between 50 and 100 in the world because they get a chance to play a main draw event,” Zverev told reporters.
“Yes, you do get told you have a day in between, you don’t have to play every day. At the end of the day, that’s not resting. Resting is when you’re spending time at home, sleeping in your own bed, maybe with your family, your dogs, your kids, right?
“A day between matches, if you’re at a different place, that’s not resting. If you’re going deep in events, if you’re trying to make the semi-finals or finals of every event, you’re just away a lot longer and you have to work a lot more.”
