Alexander Zverev has hit back at critics of the newly-announced Saudi Arabia Masters 1000 tournament, stating that the country is \u2018trying to change\u2019 in recent years.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the ATP announced that the country would host a historic 10th<\/sup> Masters 1000 tournament starting in 2028.<\/p>\n The move is the first addition to the nine already established events since the series inception in 1990.<\/p>\n However, the timing has come at a somewhat awkward time, with various top players criticising the busy annual schedule, which increases fatigue and injury frequency.<\/p>\n Zverev<\/a>, who is currently ranked as the world No 3, has backed the bold move and believes that the addition will likely be positive for the players.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they promise us that, with the money from the 10th Masters 1000, they will get back tournaments and weeks and thus shorten the season, it would be great for us, the players,\u201d stated the three-time Grand Slam finalist.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the season is shortened by three or four weeks and we don\u2019t have to play until the end of November or early December, but only until mid-November, it would be a great idea.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they don\u2019t do anything with that money and just add a tournament, it would be a nice story, but it wouldn\u2019t make much sense for the top 10 and top 20.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope we are on the right track.<\/p>\n \u201cRegarding Saudi Arabia, I liked it, I enjoyed being there a lot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a country that is doing a lot in sports, and it\u2019s good to see, but I also want the ATP to take the next steps.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe buy back some of the year-end 250 tournaments or reorganise them, to have a season that is three or four weeks shorter and a preseason that is not only four weeks but maybe eight.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be beneficial for all the top players. Having three more weeks of preseason would be fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n However, there has been much discussion over the ethical implications of adding a Masters 1000 tournament held in a country which has come under concerns over its regard for human rights, specifically relating to women and the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n Zverev participated in the recent Six Kings Slam exhibition held in Riyadh \u2013 the country\u2019s capital \u2013 which promised a six-million-dollar prize for the winner.<\/p>\n Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Taylor Fritz also took part, with the Italian claiming the exhibition title.<\/p>\n Why Patrick Mouratoglou believes Holger Rune\u2019s devastating injury could be the \u2018best thing\u2019 for the Dane<\/a><\/p>\n Stan Wawrinka makes \u2018passion\u2019 admission as he reveals his motivation to compete<\/a><\/p>\n The German, when pressed on the ethical and moral concerns of the new Masters 1000 tournament, made clear that he is \u2013 first and foremost \u2013 a tennis player, not willing to be drawn on other issues.<\/p>\n \u201cOn political matters, the context is not always the best, but they are trying to change,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n \u201cThree years ago, I wasn\u2019t there, but this year it felt like a new country to me. I\u2019m not a politician. If there is a Masters 1000 there, I play it.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have been played in Dubai or Doha for 30 years, and I don\u2019t think there have been any problems. I can speak for what I know, which is tennis.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ATP should start using that money to give something back to the players.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Alexander Zverev blasts critics of new Saudi Arabia Masters 1000: \u2018I\u2019m not a politician\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Alexander Zverev has hit back at critics of the newly-announced Saudi Arabia Masters 1000 tournament, stating that the country is \u2018trying to change\u2019 in recent years. On Thursday, the ATP announced that the country would host a historic 10th Masters 1000 tournament starting in 2028. The move is the first addition to the nine already […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Latest Tennis News<\/h2>\n