Taylor Fritz doesn’t “understand” exhibition criticism during tennis scheduling debate

Taylor Fritz has revealed that he disagrees with criticism of players for participating in exhibition events despite criticism of the tennis calendar.

The tennis schedule has been under the microscope in recent months, with several top players critical of how long and demanding the season could be.

ATP stars Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have recently spoken out about the controversy, and WTA world No. 1 Iga Świątek is often critical of the tennis calendar.

Alcaraz in particular faced criticism for his comments, with the world No. 3 being forced to defend his decision to compete in multiple exhibition events amid criticism from the ATP.

Among those who have recently weighed in on the debate is former ATP star John Millman, who said on Twitter/X that shortening the calendar is a “hard sell” if players continue to compete in multiple exhibition events.

“There have always been calls for a smaller tournament schedule, but it’s a hard sell when players are chasing $$ buy-in appearances during off-weeks,” the Australian said.

“Then include those playing on future tours and challenger tours who may need these ‘off weeks’ to play and make as little money as possible.”

In response to Millman’s post, world No. 7 Fritz expressed his view that appearances are in no way equivalent to playing a full ATP or WTA tournament.

He wrote: “I agree that shortening the tour schedule is difficult when players will just be playing Exos to fill the time, and I’ve seen a lot of people criticize some players asking for a shorter season because they’re leaving and playing Exo.

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“I don’t understand this part of the argument because playing at an exotic event and on tour are not comparable in terms of physical and especially mental burnout.

“A tour event can involve 5+ days of playing your ass off and mentally engaging with all things on and off the field, as well as taking on the exotic player you see, having fun and being entertained for a game or two. You don’t have to exert your entire body and there is absolutely no mental fatigue or stress.

“In many respects, an exotic trip is like a week of rest and should not be compared 1:1 with a trip. I don’t expect non-gamers to fully understand what I mean because it’s hard to gauge the mental and physical fatigue that weeks of touring entails if you’re not a part of it, but I fully expect gamers to understand what I mean mean when I say “This.”

In response, former world No. 33 Millman revealed that he disagreed with Fritz’s view but believed that participating in exhibitions made claims “a hard sell”.

He added: “Yes, I agree with that. I have no problem with players wanting to play for show, especially considering the limited time an athlete has to capitalize on his wealth. I think it’s up to the route whether it will be financially strong enough when players aren’t incentivized to chase exotics.

“But I think it’s hard to sell optics when you say the season is too long.”

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