Tennis icon John McEnroe has declared that players “should play what they want” as he weighed in on criticism of the sport’s demanding schedule.
On the ATP Tour, players ranked in the top 30 are expected to play the four Grand Slams, the eight mandatory Masters 1000 events, as well as a minimum of four ATP 500 tournaments. The season-ending ATP Finals is also a mandatory event for the eight players who qualify.
In recent seasons, a number of high-profile players have been critical of the mandatory tournament rules, as well as the ATP’s decision to extend seven of the nine Masters events to 12 days.
After returning from a four-month absence due to a wrist injury to compete at the 2026 US Open, Carlos Alcaraz revealed he will skip some mandatory events to take breaks from the tour in the future.
“Returning took me more time than I wanted, to be honest,” the seven-time Grand Slam winner said in a press conference at the US Open.
“Obviously I didn’t want to have this break because of an injury, but in the future, I’m going to take some breaks, some long breaks.
“Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it’s impossible to play them all.
“I think they are adding more important tournaments. In a way, they are forcing us to choose. You can skip one or two, you can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, Grand Slams [that you can’t skip], and we are going to play for 40 weeks if we are going to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP requires us to play.
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“It’s impossible and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players are getting tired, and if they don’t do anything about it, we are going to see it even more [injuries] in the future.
“But for me, taking this break because of an injury, it wasn’t that good, but what I am saying is I am going to take some breaks and miss some tournaments in future for sure.”
Speaking to reporters during the 2026 Laver Cup in London, McEnroe gave his verdict on the calendar debate.
“They should play what they want,” said the former world No 1.
“If you only play six tournaments but you win them all, you might be No 1.
“This idea that you should play 20 tournaments and pick your best 15 — or whatever the rules are now — doesn’t get out the best in players.
“We’ve been talking about this forever — this isn’t something new.”
The American legend added: “The game has become faster and more physical, and the technology, the ball’s being hit harder than ever.
“A lot of things have changed, but it certainly needs to be addressed.”
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