Andy Roddick is once again beating the drum that Masters 1000 events should not be played over a fortnight after Jannik Sinner’s shock French Open loss.
The 24-year-old was the overwhelming favourite to win this year’s Roland Garros after sweeping the clay court season at Masters level, following wins in Monte Carlo, Madrid, and Rome.
The world No 1 seemed to be cruising into round three in Paris when he was 6-3 6-2, and 5-1 up against Juan Manuel Cerundolo on Wednesday afternoon.
But the Italian then suffered a physical collapse late in the third, with Sinner saying he felt “dizzy” and “wanted to vomit”. He never really recovered, and the Argentine completed a remarkable comeback in a 3-6 2-6 7-5 6-1 6-1 win.
Sinner later said this defeat was more down to illness than struggling with the hot temperatures. Former British No 1 Tim Henman suggested the four-time major winner should have skipped one of the lead-up events to the French Open, and Roddick has since made a similar comment.
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In recent years, the majority of Masters 1000 events have become longer and longer. While tournament organisers say this gives players more rest and prize money, the athletes themselves feel this is just lengthening an already overextended and physical ATP Tour.
On the latest episode of Served, Roddick remarked how Sinner looked physically strong despite playing for more than five hours in his 2025 French Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz.
Heading into that tournament, Sinner had played just once during the clay swing due to his doping suspension. But off the back of his record Masters 1000 winning run this year, the Italian may have run himself into the ground.
Roddick said, “I hate two week tournaments that aren’t Grand Slams. If you play Indian Wells and Miami, that takes a month. If you win them both, like Sinner did, great, you go to Monte Carlo.
“There’s not enough time between Miami and Monte Carlo to put in a training block physically. I’m talking about like training a block to go five sets, potentially seven times in 14 days.
“When you’re doing the three sets at the Masters… it’s just different. Let’s think about what happened with Sinner today, and obviously it was heat-related.
“And the example I’m going to give is not as heat-related, but kind of the best showing physically that I’ve ever seen from him was at last year’s French Open – when he only had one tournament going in and he was suspended before.”
Roddick stressed that Cerundolo deserves a lot of credit for coming back and securing this momentous win in tricky conditions. The American also said he is not worried at all by Sinner’s game, merely the schedule.
He added, “I’m just simply acknowledging the trend and the thing that people kind of know. And that is proven at this point.
“But that training block, when you’re not playing Indian Wells, Miami, and then you’re playing Rome going in, all of a sudden you’re playing for five hours and 37 minutes versus winning everything, being extremely match tough, and not worried really about your game.
“I’m still not worried about his game at all. But when do you build the foundation to play five hours?”
Incidentally, Sinner has never won a match longer than four hours in seven attempts. While the Cerundolo encounter lasted three hours and 36 minutes, concerns about Sinner’s physical durability won’t go away.
In regards to Masters events being shortened, players may have to take a prize money hit for that to happen, with Monte Carlo the sole 1000 tournament to be played over a week these days.
READ MORE: Roland Garros set for a shock finalists after Jannik Sinner crashes out
The post ‘I hate it’ – Former world No 1 lifts lid on key factor behind Jannik Sinner’s shock French Open loss appeared first on Tennis365.
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