It is no secret that the professional tennis season is one of the longest in sports, and the top players, like World No. 1 and reigning US Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner, have to figure out a way to navigate it.
This year Sinner did not have to manage it as much as he spent three months serving a controversial doping sentence. However, the 23-year-old is thinking ahead about how to plan his tournament play so that he can hopefully enjoy a long and injury-free career.
What Jannik Sinner Said
ATP organizers may not like what Jannik Sinner said, but he admitted that he wants to play fewer tournaments and focus on the Grand Slams. The idea is to go deep into the rounds of the tournaments that are not Grand Slams so that he has adequate reps and match play to be ready for the Slams.
“my main goal is to have as many matches as possible throughout the season with less tournament possible because if i want to play a longer career you have to stop at times, you have to work physically a lot to keep the body going” il mio tennista🙂↕️
— sconnessa (@alexiuss11) August 12, 2025
Sinner was among many who skipped the Canadian Open last week and took a nearly a month off after winning Wimbledon on July 13. The Canadian Open is an ATP/WTA 1000 level tournament, the second highest ranked tournament behind the Grand Slams. The winner of a 1000 tournament earns 1,000 ranking points; whereas, the winner of a Grand Slam earns 2,000 points.
In 2025, the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open each became 12-day events. Players and fans are not loving the new format; players prefer to play every day until they are out of the tournament. Fans lose track of the progress with awkward Thursday finals (at Canadian Open).
Despite what Sinner said, the Canadian Open ATP tournament director, Karl Hale, is optimistic that he will have Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the 2026 event. There will be a three week break between Wimbledon and next year’s Canadian Open (compared to two weeks in 2025), and Hale believes that will make the difference.
ATP Tour Needs To Change
If top players in their peak years are strategizing as Sinner is, the ATP Tour should take notice. Perhaps the schedule should be shifted to offer more lower level events (Challenger and 250 events) to give younger players opportunities to move up the rankings and earn prize money.
Top tennis players cannot expect to play 11 month seasons year-after-year without it taking a physical and emotional toll. At 23, Sinner already realizes this and is acting accordingly. How will the ATP Tour respond?
