Taylor Fritz “doesn’t understand” exhibition criticism amid tennis scheduling debate

Taylor Fritz has revealed that he does not agree with players being criticized for taking part in exhibition events despite criticizing the tennis calendar.

Tennis scheduling has been under scrutiny in recent months, with several top players criticizing how lengthy and demanding the season can be.

ATP stars Alexander Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have all recently spoken out about the controversy, while WTA world number 1 Iga Swiatek has been a frequent critic of the tennis calendar.

Alcaraz in particular has faced some criticism for his comments, with the world number 3 forced to defend his decision to take part in several exhibition events due to his criticism of the ATP.

One of those who recently waded into the debate is former ATP star John Millman, who claimed on Twitter/X that shortening the calendar would be a “hard sell” if players continued to compete in multiple exhibition events.

“There have always been calls for a smaller tournament schedule, but it’s a hard sell when players are chasing $$ shows in the off weeks,” the Australian said.

“Then you take into account those who play on the Future and Challenger Tours and may need those “off weeks” to play and make as little money as possible.”

In response to Millman’s post, World No. 7 Fritz expressed his view that exhibitions are in no way the same as competing in a full ATP or WTA event.

He wrote: “I agree that it is difficult for the tour to shorten the schedule when players are just playing exos to fill the time, and I have seen many people criticize some of the players who have one shorter season because they go and play Exos.

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“I don’t understand this part of the argument because playing an exo event and a tour event are not comparable in terms of burnout – physical and especially mental.

“A Tour event can consist of more than five days of giving it your all and mentally committing to everything on and off the field AGAINST an exotic guy where you show up, have fun and entertain for a game or two. You don’t have to overwork your body and there is absolutely no mental fatigue or stress.

“In many ways, an Exo is similar to a rest week and should not be compared 1:1 to a Tour event. I don’t expect non-players to fully understand what I mean by this, because it’s difficult to judge the mental and physical fatigue that comes with playing tour weeks when you’re not there, but I would “I expect players to understand what I mean by that.”

In response, Millman, the former world number 33, revealed that he doesn’t disagree with Fritz’s view but believes playing champions makes complaints “hard to sell”.

He added: “Yes, I agree. I have no problem with players wanting to compete in exhibitions, especially given the limited time an athlete has to capitalize on their assets. I think it’s up to the tour to be financially strong enough so that players don’t have an incentive to chase Exos.

“But I think it’s visually difficult to sell something when there’s talk that the season is too long.”

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