Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis has called for changes to be made to the tennis schedule as he asserted that it is difficult to follow the sport as a fan.
In 2025, a host of high-profile players on the ATP and WTA tours voiced concerns about the tennis calendar, with the length of the season, the number of mandatory events and the expansion of several ATP/WTA 1000 events to 12 days some of the biggest issues raised.
Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev, Jack Draper, Taylor Fritz and Casper Ruud are among the top players who have spoken out.
ATP world No 1 Alcaraz and WTA world No 2 Swiatek, who have each won six Grand Slam titles, have been two of the strongest and most frequent critics.
What did Marcos Baghdatis say about the tennis calendar?
In an exclusive interview, Tennis365 asked Baghdatis if he would like to see adjustments to the schedule given the criticism from players.
“I would like to see changes,” said the former world No 8.
“And it’s gonna be hard to change, but it has to because, for me also as a fan — when I have to follow a tournament in Dubai, at the same week there is a tournament in South America, and at the same time there is a tournament in North America — as a fan, I find it difficult.
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“And I see, let’s say Dubai, it’s a big tournament, and Sinner is playing in Dubai, and you have Alcaraz playing in Sao Paolo — it’s just an example. And I’m like, why is the number one player in the world and the number two player in the world playing two tournaments at the same week on different surfaces at the same time?
“Why aren’t they at the same tournament? So it’s gonna be hard to change because a lot of tournaments, or countries, might lose the opportunities. But you don’t see another sport being like that, especially an individual sport.”
Why Marcos Baghdatis ‘hates’ players complaining about the schedule
Baghdatis has also told Tennis365 that the schedule is not a new problem and that he “hates” players criticising it for one reason.
“I really do think it is a problem,” the Cypriot said. “I think that it’s been a while that it’s a problem, but I hate players complaining about it.
“And the reason why I hate when they complain about it is not because they complain, it’s because they have a union, they have an association, they have the PTPA now, that is there and that is fighting for them. Their voice is very strong and they can go to the PTPA and they can talk with them and find ways to make things better.
“You know, in our days, we didn’t have that association, so we could have complained as much as we wanted — nobody heard us. But right now, they do have it.
“They have whatever they need to be able to go and negotiate with the tours and the tournaments. But they don’t do it, they only complain through media and interviews and all that. That’s where I find it a bit strange.”
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