Even though Andy Murray officially retired from tennis last year, he has not stepped away from the game.
He began the year by taking on the role of Novak Djokovic’s coach and has remained in the spotlight, even after they parted ways in May.
These days, Murray is sharing his opinions on various podcasts. And while he seems to be enjoying life after professional tennis, it is clear he still wants to stay connected to the sport however he can.
One topic that has caught his attention recently is a major change in the game – one that stirred up quite a bit of debate. According to Murray, not only did he have concerns about it, but he also voted against its introduction.
Andy Murray opens up about the grind of tennis
In a chat with The Tennis Podcast, Murray was asked about the relentless nature of the tennis schedule and how he coped with it during his playing days.
His answer shed some light on how much his perspective has changed since stepping away from the game. He seems to have only realised in retirement that the tennis calendar does not need to control everything.
The Briton said: “It’s a regret of mine that as a player, a lot of them just follow what the schedule says that you have to do.
“Novak is a good example of that this year, where he has not done that, and at times Federer did not do that. You are allowed to miss tournaments. Obviously, there are certain penalties in place for that. There is a bit of a balance to it.”
He then discussed how Masters events had been changed from one-week tournaments into two-week stretches – an alteration he did not agree with at the time and still questions today.
“I was sitting on the ATP Player Council when this got voted for, to change the Masters series to longer events. I was completely against that change, because one, I liked the Masters series how they were. They were great events.
“And the feeling from the ATP at the time was that there would be less injuries because you would have more time to recover between matches.
“But my feeling was that if you put a two-week tournament on, there is less time for players to actually recover as well.
“I think part of the issue now is where I don’t think there is anything that suggests that players are getting injured more than before. I think there has always been injuries and I don’t think that there is evidence to back that up.”
Murray added: “But I do think that players are more tired and I think mentally are more fatigued than they were before, because they are spending more days away and more days on the road and when you are more fatigued, you are more sensitive to pain and discomfort.
“My feeling is that is what players are feeling now. It’s that you are just being away and being on the road for longer than you used to be, rather than the matches are physically so much more demanding than they were 10 or 15 years ago.
“But it’s the amount of time that players are out on the road that is actually an issue.”
Other players who are unhappy with the Masters expansion
Murray is far from alone in criticising the expanded two-week Masters events.
Djokovic did not mince his words earlier this year, saying: “To be quite frank with you, I don’t enjoy the two-week Masters events anymore. It’s just way too long for me. My focus is mostly on the Slams, and I have said that before.”
Alexander Zverev echoed those feelings back in August, saying: “I am not a fan of where this is going.”
Jack Draper took it a step further, calling on fellow players to push back against the ATP.
There does not seem to be much support among players for the expanded schedule, but despite that, it does not look like any changes are coming soon.
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