Tennis stars sound off on new Toronto tournament format
Retired American tennis star John Isner wasn’t exactly holding back his thoughts on Monday night as to how the new schedule was going in his former sport.
This year, both the ATP (men’s) and WTA (women’s) tours revamped their summer schedules, expanding the Cincinnati and National Bank Open tournaments into 12-day formats, up from one week.
The changes pushed the annual National Bank Open, which takes place in both Toronto and Montreal, up a week to begin in July, and with its final now taking place on a Thursday instead of the typical Sunday for most tennis tournaments.
But with the calendar having barely shifted over to August, Isner kept his criticisms of the new schedule pretty simple in a quote tweet of the New York Times‘ Ben Rothenberg.
“It’s so bad,” Isner tweeted.
It’s so bad https://t.co/QzgTq4A3to
— John Isner (@JohnIsner) August 5, 2025
What are the biggest concerns with the new tennis schedule?
One of the biggest wildcards with running any tennis tournament has always been whether the top players will actually show up.
On the men’s side in Toronto this year, it’s mostly been a no, with names like Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic all pulling out.
With the tournament sandwiched between the early July Wimbledon finish and the late August US Open start, some players have prioritized rest over the points and money they might pick up at the event, which is listed as a 1,000-level tournament, one step below the Grand Slams.
“We are obviously disappointed in the withdrawals, but we’ve spoken to the players. We have spoken to the tour…” Toronto tournament director Karl Hale said earlier this week. “We’ll have discussions with [ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi] about how to improve the situation. It’s a new 12-day model, so we’ll work through the process, but we’re very happy with it to date, and we’ll continue growing as we move along.”
The tournament is also sandwiched between events in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, both of which are vital tune-ups for players on the hardcourt ahead of the US Open.
“This is a tough part of the year because there’s not really any weeks that make sense to take off,” American star Taylor Fritz said.
For fellow American Ben Shelton, he views the actual rest players are getting within the tournament as perhaps too much, as he’d rather keep playing every day as per the old one-week format.
“The difficult part with these two-week tournaments is you’re playing two-set matches, three-set matches, and you’re getting a day off in between, which everyone talks about in the locker room now, the level of tennis suffers,” Shelton said.
“The level is definitely higher in those one-week tournaments, when you’re playing two out of three sets and you’re playing back-to-back days and you get into a consistent rhythm of playing… It’s tough with the start and stop, and I think that a combination of those things is probably what players are talking about and what’s throwing a lot of guys off.”
Adding to the tournament’s issues, several players — including Canadian Denis Shapovalov — also stated a lack of comfort during their time on the court this year.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable on it this year. Yeah, it felt tough to play my game on the court,” Shapovalov said after exiting the tournament with a straight sets loss in his first match. “I feel like it’s a pretty open stadium, so it’s pretty swirly out there.”
But the tournament’s extended format also has its positives.
More Canadian players are able to enter the tournament on both the men’s and women’s side, including wild-card entries like Vicky Mboko, who’s made a run through to the semifinals. Tickets have also become more affordable, dropping to as low as $15 for the earliest rounds. And it’s given a chance for fans to watch more tennis overall, even if it might be missing a few of the biggest names.
For 2023 finalist Alex De Minaur, who plays in a quarterfinal match on Tuesday night, he doesn’t see much use in trying to figure out how to fix what he can’t control.
“Well, the number one focus point is not complaining. That for me is a must, right? It’s not going to change, right? Is complaining about the conditions going to give me the best chance to perform? No. So, for me it’s just about getting on with it, dealing with it, and just trying to find a way and committing to my shots,” De Minaur said.