Tennis, the annual calendar has officially changed and nothing will ever be the same: it has disappeared from the radar.
The current season has barely started 3 months ago and it seems premature, perhaps, to talk about the next one. However, it is only right, considering that the Atp has published the calendar for 2025 in the past few hours. Which in itself is a fact that would not make headlines, except that it has radically changed from previous years and is worth, in light of this, dwelling on the new features in the pipeline.
The calendar in question is still only tentative, but some of the changes to the traditional schedule are already official. Like the fact, for example, that the two summer Masters 1000s, in the wake of the Internazionali d’Italia, will last longer: 12 days, to be precise. At the Canada Open and the Cincinnati tournament there will be room, now, for 96 players: only Paris Bercy and Monte Carlo remain firm at 56 “passes.” Upgrades would also have been confirmed for the Munich, Doha and Dallah events, which have achieved Atp 500 status but will be played at the same time as other tournaments that are part of this same category.
Appearing to have disappeared from the radar, however, is the Cordoba event, which is why the South American swing has officially lost one of its stages. Which means that Luciano Darderi may be the last champion to triumph on that course. As a substitute, he may set course for the grass of Mallorca in the week immediately preceding Berrettini’s Slam of the Heart, namely Wimbledon.
Tennis, calendar changes: tennis players turn up their noses
Cordoba’s is not, however, the only tournament excluded from the 2025 calendar released by the Atp. The ones in Newport, Lyon, Atlanta and Estoril have also been skipped, although no decision has yet been made on possible alternatives to be proposed to the players.
Changes location, however, the Hamburg Atp 500, which will now be played in the period between the Internazionali d’Italia and Roland Garros. Slip to summer that of Los Cabos, while the Next Gen Atp Finals will be played, starting next year, close to Christmas, during the penultimate week of the year. News that, as easily guessed, has displaced everyone a bit, especially the players.
And some of them (read right: Diego Schwartzman) did not welcome the news regarding the reduction of tournaments in South America either. “I don’t think it’s a great decision,” tweeted the tennis player, evidently unfazed by the Association’s strategic (?) choices.
