Former British No.1 Tim Henman has publicly urged the governing bodies of professional tennis to rethink the current schedule, arguing that the 12‑day format of the Masters 1000 tournaments imposes an excessive workload on the sport’s elite. Henman’s comments come amid a growing chorus of players who have been forced to miss major events or withdraw from the tour because of injuries that many attribute to an overly packed calendar.
The issue was highlighted this week when world No.1 Jannik Sinner announced that he would be unable to return at the China Open as originally planned, having been sidelined since Wimbledon with a lingering knee problem. Similarly, Spain’s rising star Carlos Alcaraz missed both the French Open and Wimbledon after a wrist injury forced him out of competition for several months. In Britain, Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper are among a long list of 2026 season participants who have endured extended absences due to physical setbacks. Henman, who reached a career‑high ranking of world No.4 and captured the Paris Masters title in 2003, said the length of the Masters 1000 events has become a “bone of contention” for many top players.
"It’s been well documented that the 12‑day Masters 1000s are just too much tennis," he told reporters. "The travel demands are huge, and we’re seeing a rising number of injuries as a result. If we could trim those tournaments down to eight or nine days, it would free up the calendar and give players a chance to recover." In addition to calling for a shorter tournament window, Henman suggested a more radical rule change: eliminating the let serve.
"Every other shot can hit the top of the net, go over and in, so I would get rid of the let and let the point play out as it happens," he said, framing the proposal as a practical tweak that could speed up matches and reduce the physical strain of repeated service games. Alcaraz’s recent experience underscores the urgency of Henman’s plea. After a wrist injury that kept him out from April’s Barcelona Open until the US Open, the Spaniard reached the quarter‑finals in New York, his first tournament back.
Speaking after his run, Alcaraz admitted that his break had been longer than he anticipated and that the relentless schedule left him with little choice but to push through injury. "Given the packed schedule, I didn’t want to stop because of an injury, but in the future I’ll need longer breaks – maybe one or two months, skipping certain events – because it’s impossible to play everything," he explained.
At the Laver Cup, where Team Europe emerged victorious, Alcaraz expanded on the need for rest, noting that modern tennis has evolved dramatically. "The balls, the courts, the speed of play – everything is more aggressive now.
We need weeks to train, to recover, and to stay physically ready. With more important tournaments added, the pressure to compete constantly is huge, so I really want to take breaks," he said, urging the ATP and its chairman Andrea Gaudenzi to consider structural changes if they want players to stay healthy and competitive. Italian youngster Flavio Cobolli echoed similar concerns about the sheer number of matches and the length of stays at individual events.
"If you look at the number of tournaments and matches we play during the year, it’s not that high – we’re used to it. What’s new is staying at a tournament for so many days," Cobolli told reporters.
"The format has changed, and we’re still adapting. I’ve been away from home for almost six weeks and have played fewer than ten matches in that time, yet the time away feels excessive." Veteran doubles specialist Jamie Murray, speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, offered a perspective from the players’ point of view. "The tour is longer than ever in terms of commitment and days away from home," Murray said.
"You see younger players watching how Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have extended their careers, and they realize that to play into their mid‑30s they’ll have to be selective about which tournaments they enter. The tour needs to accommodate that reality." The broader context is that eight of the nine Masters 1000 events are mandatory for most top‑ranked players, alongside four ATP 500 tournaments. Over the past few years, many of these Masters events have expanded to a 12‑day format, a shift that has been criticized for increasing travel fatigue, reducing recovery time, and ultimately contributing to a spike in injuries across the tour. Critics argue that a shorter, more compact schedule would not only preserve player health but also enhance the quality of competition for fans.
If the ATP were to adopt Henman’s suggestion of reducing Masters 1000 tournaments to eight or nine days, the calendar could be reshaped to provide more breathing room between major events. This could mean fewer back‑to‑back weeks of high‑intensity matches, more opportunities for players to undergo physiotherapy, and a reduction in the number of long overseas trips that strain both body and mind.
In addition to schedule adjustments, the proposed removal of the let serve could streamline matches, potentially shortening match durations and lessening the cumulative physical toll on players. While such a rule change would be controversial and would require extensive testing, it reflects the broader desire among players for innovations that prioritize health without compromising the sport’s excitement.
Overall, the consensus among the quoted players is clear: the current tour structure is unsustainable for many athletes, especially as the game continues to evolve toward faster, more physically demanding play. Whether the ATP will act on these calls remains to be seen, but the mounting evidence of injury‑related withdrawals and the vocal advocacy from respected figures like Tim Henman suggest that change may be on the horizon.