Henman: 12-Day Masters 1000 'Too Much Tennis' — SkimNews
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- Tim Henman called the 12-day Masters 1000 format "too much tennis" and proposed shrinking it to eight or nine days, while also suggesting the ATP abolish the let serve as a practical rule change.
- Jannik Sinner, the world No 1, announced he will not return from a knee injury at next week's China Open as planned, having not played since Wimbledon.
- Carlos Alcaraz reached the US Open quarter-finals in his first tournament since April's Barcelona Open after a wrist injury forced him out of the French Open and Wimbledon, and directly told ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi to act if he wants stars at key events.
- Flavio Cobolli said he has been away from home for nearly a month and a half while playing fewer than 10 matches, calling the longer tournament stays the format problem rather than total match count.
- Jamie Murray told Sky Sports Tennis that players will increasingly skip tournaments to elongate their careers the way Federer and Nadal did, and said the Tour must adjust to accommodate that reality.
- Eight of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments are mandatory for most top players along with four ATP 500 events, a workload Henman and Alcaraz say leaves no room for recovery.
Why it matters: The ATP's expanded 12-day Masters 1000 format has already knocked world No 1 Sinner out of action and sidelined Alcaraz through two Grand Slams in 2026 — with players from Henman to Cobolli publicly telling chairman Andrea Gaudenzi the calendar is unsustainable. The Tour now faces a choice: shorten the format or accept that top stars will skip marquee events to protect careers stretching into their mid-30s.
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