Throughout the 2025 tennis season, there have been growing calls for changes to the sport’s rules, with the demanding schedule being a major talking point among players.
Iga Swiatek plans to reduce her playing commitments on the WTA Tour next year, while both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have voiced concerns over how many events they’re expected to enter.
In addition to the ongoing discussions about the ATP and WTA calendars, several other issues have come up regarding how tennis is being run.
Brad Stine wants rule change for Top Players in Masters 1000 Events
Tommy Paul’s coach Brad Stine has suggested a significant change to Masters 1000 tournaments that would impact higher-ranked players. Paul himself had previously pointed out what he felt was a rule that doesn’t serve top competitors well.
The current format gives all seeded players a bye into the second round. Stine believes this should be removed so everyone starts from round one. In an interview with Tennis Channel, he explained:
Masters events have come under fire in 2025, with the extended formats of the Cincinnati Open and Shanghai Masters drawing particular criticism.
Paul’s coach, Stine, believes another change is needed: removing byes that top players currently receive at Masters 1000 tournaments.
“I’m not a fan to be honest with you of the byes in the Masters 1000’s, or in the 250’s. I think that we should fill the draw. Why don’t we?
“I don’t like the idea that any player, regardless of their status, has a slight advantage. I only have to win four matches instead of five matches or whatever it may be in the Masters 1000s.
The top eight seeds usually receive a bye at Masters events, which would include the likes of Alcaraz, Sinner, Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic.
Do the benefits of Masters byes outweigh the Challenges?
Getting rid of byes in Masters events sounds fair on paper, but in practice, it could make an already packed calendar even tougher to manage.
With nine Masters tournaments each year and top players frequently advancing deep into draws, removing byes would add several matches to their workload.
Players like Alcaraz and Sinner are already stretched thin. Adding more matches could push them closer to their limits than we’ve seen before.
Alcaraz played 80 matches in 2025. Adding another nine would make an already heavy load even tougher to manage over a long season.
One compromise could be to reduce the number of byes rather than remove them entirely, which might strike a better balance between fairness and player welfare.
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