Alexander Zverev has kicked off his North American hard-court swing with two victories at the Canadian Open.
Zverev won his opening match against Adam Walton and came back from a set down to defeat Matteo Arnaldi in round two.
The German took a month out after his first-round exit at Wimbledon, and has since been training with Rafael Nadal’s former coach, Toni Nadal.
It was a much-needed break for Zverev, who has had a busy schedule on the ATP Tour this year, which he spoke about in depth recently.
Photo by Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesAlexander Zverev gives a damning assessment of ATP Tour scheduling
When asked on the ‘Nothing Major Podcast’ if he would play a reduced schedule, Zverev responded: “I would love to, but with how the ATP has done the tournaments nowadays, it’s impossible.
“You have the nine Masters 1000 events, which are mandatory; most of them are two-week-long events now, except Monte-Carlo and Paris Bercy.
“Which I think are the best two weeks now on the ATP calendar. I think for a fan and every single tennis player, Paris Bercy was awesome last year.
“I mean, I won it, which was even more awesome for me, but you get there, you play your five matches, and you get out of there.
“You do not have to stick around or practice in between matches. That is how Masters events used to be and I think all the players loved it.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4UQd8rdGQvkFcF7jq93Aqp?si=89f2dbec45924a8e
“Now the ATP has made four mandatory 500 events for you to play, which used to be three, now it’s four. So you don’t get under 20 events except if you are pulling out of the big events.
“I am not a fan of where this is going, because if you take Alex de Minaur, for example. He played his last match at Davis Cup on the 25th November, and he played his first match of the United Cup on the 27th December.
“So you have a month of off-season. How are you going to take two weeks off and prepare your body for a new season? You don’t have the time to do those things any more.
“I think this is one subject where the ATP has to really think about it and find a solution about it, and to be honest, I have not heard a single player say that they love the two-week Masters events. I don’t even think the fans like that.
“They don’t like waiting for two days for their favourite player to play again. I understand tennis is a business, but I am not sure that business plan is working very well right now.”
Photo by Mathew Tsang/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesChanges to be made to the ATP Tour schedule in 2026
In February this year, ATP announced their calendar for the 2026 season, which featured minor changes to tournament scheduling.
The two-week format will remain in seven of the nine Masters 1000 events, which several players, along with Zverev, have objected to in the past.
The Moselle Open will no longer take place, while Estoril, previously a Challenger tournament, will join the calendar as an ATP 250 event.
29 ATP 250 competitions and 16 ATP 500s will take place next year.