Taylor Fritz has expressed his frustration on the packed ATP schedule ahead of the US Open.
According to Tennis365, the world No. 4 spoke out against the ATP schedule and new rules that forced him to play in the tournaments ahead of the Grand Slam event despite not feeling completely fit.
The American tennis player began his Canadian Open bid just four days after a quarterfinal exit from the Washington Open, citing that as per ATP rules every player is required to play a certain number of 500 tournaments a year.
He called back-to-back tournaments a “tough time of year” because players do not have time to take a break or rest.
The 27-year-old said, “There are thousands, and to be honest, last week, and don’t get me wrong, I really like Washington, and I like playing the tournament, but with how tight my schedule was on the grass court, I probably should have decided not to participate.”
Fritz added that he missed two 500s this year due to injury, so he had no choice but to play in Washington to meet the ATP 500 quota of the year.
“I’ll be honest, I don’t think it’s the best policy because I had an injury earlier this year and felt like a week off would have been great. A lot of the guys are prioritising the US Open and don’t want to come here, play this tournament, play in Cincinnati, and be exhausted for the US Open,” he added.
The tennis player believes that it is quite obvious that several European players missed these tournaments to play their best in the US Open, but being from North America, it is the tournament that he enjoys playing.
Fritz will now face Spanish tennis professional Roberto Carballés Baena in the National Bank Open round of 64 on Thursday, July 31.
