The current ATP Tour is clearly unsustainable and that has been showcased by the sheer amount of withdrawals for the Canadian Open this year.
Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and Jannik Sinner have all confirmed they will not be playing the Masters event, and they have been joined by the likes of Alexander Bublik and Sebastian Korda.
There have been several theories as to why the Masters event is no longer appealing to the top players on the Tour, with many suggesting it is down to the new two-week format of the tournament.
Most of the Masters events were expanded from seven to 12 days for the 2025 season, which has been very controversial with the players on the ATP Tour.
However, Andrea Petkovic believes the reason for the mass withdrawals is down to the sheer length of the ATP Tour.
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Speaking on The Big T Podcast, “I do think that it’s not only the placement in the calendar it’s that the men do play three, four weeks longer. The women are done after the first week in November which is already an absurdly long season if you compare it to other sports.
“There is not a single sport that doesn’t have a six week break somewhere there or eight week break. Sometimes tennis doesn’t have that, right? You have to like somehow get your vacation in and then already prep for the next season.
“And I think for the men because the season is even longer than for the women already, they have to they have to manage their energies. And I do think that it is an issue also a little bit with the two week events. I don’t think all two week events are problematic.
“But if you have Cincinnati and Montreal back to back as two week events, it’s too much. It’s too much. And so I think the best players like Jannik and like Novak, they will think who where are all the players that I need to play against if I want to see where my form is at before the US Open.
“That’s Cincinnati. And so they make a choice. And it’s unfortunate for Canada because it’s a lovely place. Montreal was always one of my favorites on tour.
“I loved going there. But I do think for the men it’s much more crowded than for the women. I think that’s why the women go and play and the men have to I don’t know if they have to choose, but they choose not to.”
The men’s tour features the Davis Cup and the ATP Finals at the end of the season, which extends it when compared to the WTA Tour.
The top players largely sign up for the ATP Finals, which pits the top eight ranked players against each other, but the Davis Cup has seen player interest fall in recent years.
