ATP boss Gaudenzi defends schedule amid player workload scrutiny

PARIS :ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi defended men's tennis's crowded calendar on Thursday, saying scheduling remains the players' choice and that the tour is working to set clearer incentives so the right number of matches are played across the season.

Speaking after the ATP announced a new Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia from 2028, Gaudenzi pushed back on criticism from leading players over a year-round grind.

"Tennis is quite unique in that a player can play one match or seven matches in two weeks," Gaudenzi told reporters on Thursday.

"We operate in an environment where players are independent contractors and they choose their own schedules. Some who go deep at big events play fewer tournaments; others need more because they lose earlier and need matches."

REVAMP AIMS TO OPTIMISE THE CALENDAR

Gaudenzi said the ATP's ongoing "Vision 28" revamp aims to optimise the calendar and strengthen the tour's "premium product" - the Grand Slams, Masters 1000s and season-ending Finals - while improving rules and incentives so players build schedules "in a waterfall system" starting from the biggest events.

"Philosophically speaking, the direction in which we're going, because we're doing a revision of our rules with the goal of creating a new product, Vision 28, is that players should play in a sort of a waterfall system where if you're a top player, your schedule should start with slams, Masters and the Finals," he said.

"When you don't perform well or need matches, you can play down at the 500s."

He said the ATP could "help create better rules" and that "the off-season should be longer - for players and for fans."

But, he added, "protecting players from themselves would require a completely different structure where they're