Andrey Rublev calls out tennis chiefs as Elena Rybakina sparks debate over event rules

By celebrityinfo.online On May 3, 2024

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Andrey Rublev became the latest player to weigh into the debate over the extended, two-week Masters 1000 tournaments.

Andrey Rublev has called out tennis bosses for “taking decisions without asking anyone” as he weighed in on the extended Masters 1000 tournament format. It comes as Elena Rybakina sparked a debate when she claimed the rules needed to change so players could prolong their careers and play better tennis.

The Madrid Open is finally nearing its end after more than a week of competition. The tournament is one of several 1000-point events which now lasts 12 to 13 days and has 96 players in the draw along with Indian Wells, Miami, Rome and Shanghai. And from 2025, the Canadian and Cincinnati Masters will follow suit.

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Previously, the majority of these events lasted for just one week. The drawn-out format means that players usually get an extra day off in between matches but they must hang around for longer while there are barely any matches on the back end of the tournament.

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The extended format has sparked a debate in the Spanish capital, with Rublev becoming the latest to speak out as he claimed tennis bosses didn’t ask players or fans before making some important decisions. “It’s true that some tournaments look like they are longer and we have more days to rest, but then you end up, let’s say maybe before we had Madrid and Rome, and in two weeks we were playing these two tournaments, and then you had two weeks more at home,” the world No. 8 said after reaching the semi-final.

“Now looks like we are having more rest between matches but it take us four weeks. And of course mentally it’s a bit tougher, and then you don’t spend that much time home because you spend less time and you have less time to recover.” Although Rublev thought it was tough to say which format was better, he thought players needed to be more involved.

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The Russian continued: “I mean, I guess it’s more should be how all the players are thinking, the average of the players, and then also what are better for spectators. Then, depending on most of the players’ opinion and depending on how it goes with the spectators, then to do those decisions, because sometimes they’re taking decisions without asking anyone. Then some players like it, some players don’t like it.”

Rublev spoke just hours after Rybakina went on a rant about the effects of the two-week tournaments, claiming that she had “wasted energy” trying to speak up and drive change over the last year. “I think these tournaments which became so long, it’s not very helpful, I would say,” the world No. 4 said

“Because if you’re fit, you’re fit, you’re going to play every day and the tournament finishes. But to stay in one place for almost two weeks, and it’s not like here you finish and you go rest. You go and you play another mandatory one. That’s definitely not making it easy.”

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The 2022 Wimbledon champion also suggested that players should have the opportunity to choose their schedule instead of the longer tournaments being mandatory. But some of her rivals disagreed as Aryna Sabalenka claimed it was better to have a day off in between matches.

“Me personally I prefer to have a day off. It’s kind of like long, it takes long for the tournament, you know, like two weeks’ tournament, it’s kind of like long, but at the same time I prefer to play the match than have a day off, so for me physically it’s better,” the Australian Open winner said.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Iga Swiatek explained that it was difficult to switch off, even if the players had more days off during the two-week events. She explained: “It really helps when you have a day off to be ready physically for the next match, so I would say physically it’s kind of easier to recover during the tournaments.

“But mentally you need to be ready for these long tournaments without having really days off, because even when we have a day off, we usually come here and practice and we see courts, we see these faces, you know, eat the same food. So it’s not like you can totally switch off.”

And she echoed Rublev’s sentiment that the players didn’t get a say in the schedule. “So, yeah, on one hand it’s easier physically, but on the other hand mentally sometimes it’s tough, but we are not really the ones that are deciding that, so we kind of have to adjust. That’s all,” she added.

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