A Specific Problem

After the 1st Grand Slam of the season, several tournaments take place in different countries of the World. They usually serve as preparation for the upcoming Masters 1000 of Indian Wells and Miami, most known by the Sunshine Double. Those two tournaments are played on hardcourt, the last ones before the ATP Tour makes his way to the clay season. However, between the Australian Open and the 1st Masters of the year, there are also some clay tournaments being played. The big question that many players usually ask, is why there are such events occurring during this time of the year?

If you think having all these clay court tournaments whilst we are in the midst of the hard court season is good for the sport and the future of tennis continue to argue ???????? — Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) February 23, 2020

Nick Kyrgios, who’s very vocal on his social media accounts, was one of the persons who had something to say about this subject. Is it good for the sport to include various tournaments on a different surface than the ones being played at the moment? In preparation for the main events, most of the players choose to skip such tournaments to stay focused on hardcourt surfaces, leading to a very poor field for the South American clay events. Let’s analyze week by week.

Week of 03.02 to 09.02

Cordoba Open | Clay

Top 20 entries - Diego Schwartzman

Open Sud de France | Hard

Top 20 entries - Gael Monfils, Felix Auger-Aliassime, David Goffin, Denis Shapovalov

Week of 10.02 to 16.02

Argentina Open | Clay

Top 20 entries - Diego Schwartzman

ABN AMRO (Rotterdam) | Hard

Top 20 entries - Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Roberto Bautista Agut, Gael Monfils, David Goffin, Fabio Fognini, Stan Wawrinka

Week of 17.02 to 23.02

Rio Open | Clay

Top 20 entries - Dominic Thiem, Christian Garin

Open 13 Provence (Marseille) | Hard

Top 20 entries - Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, David Goffin, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Karen Khachanov

Week of 24.02 to 01.03

Chile Open | Clay

Top 20 entries - Christian Garin

Dubai Duty-Free | Hard

Top 20 entries - Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Roberto Bautista Agut, Gael Monfils, Fabio Fognini, Andrey Rublev

Acapulco | Hard

Top 20 entries - Rafael Nadal, Nick Kyrgios, Alexander Zverev, Stan Wawrinka, John Isner, Felix Auger-Aliassime

Is There a Solution?

The final countdown of Top 20 entries between clay tournaments and hardcourt is 5 to 28, respectively. A huge difference. Should these events be moved to the clay season? Or they could try to reinvent themselves and turn them into hardcourt tournaments, adding bigger names to their lineup. Either way, it’s a complicated situation for both the ATP and the organizers.

Check out more Tennis news on our blog!