Alexander Zverev lashed out at the crowded tennis calendar on Tuesday, with the German reserving harsh words for the new-look two-week Masters 1000 concept.
The world No. 5 made his feelings known in Rome as he prepared to begin at the event he won in 2017.
“I’ve been on Tour now for 10 years. The conversation has always been how can we make the season shorter,” he said.
“Making the season shorter is not only because we want to play tennis.
“It’s about how can we have time to prepare our bodies for the physicality that tennis is and how do we have time to heal our body?”
The Masters expansion has been the main topic so far as WTA play got underway at the joint event at the Foro Italico in what Zverev called “an 11-month season.”
“Alex de Minaur played the Davis Cup Final the 29th of November, and his first ATP Cup match was the 29th of December, which is exactly one month.
“It’s just simply not enough time. It’s not enough time to rest your body. It’s also not enough time to physically prepare your body.”
Zverev added: “Physical preparation is how much work you put in the
gym, how much work you put in on the court, how much work you put in outside the court.
“That you cannot do during the season. (The off-season) gives us a (four-week) period of time of resting and preparing our bodies.”
And with Rome and Madrid now extended to 13 days of play, the situation is not getting any less complicated as the sanctioning bodies bow to the lure of more sponsor dollars.
“Two-week Masters 1000 events are great for players ranked between 50 and 100; they get a chance to play a main-draw event at a Masters.
“But it’s not great for top-10 players. It’s as simple as that.”
