(Paris) The ATP announced Thursday a reduction from this season in the number of compulsory tournaments for the best players on the men’s circuit, who regularly complain about a calendar that they consider overloaded.
From the 2026 season, the top thirty players in the ATP ranking at the end of the 2025 season will be required to play at least four tournaments in the ATP 500 category, compared to five until now, the body indicated in a press release.
In addition, participants in a Masters 1000 or an ATP 500 who withdraw during the tournament “due to the birth or adoption of a child” will no longer have the points acquired up to that point in the tournament withdrawn.
Participation in the Masters 1000 (the most important tournaments on the men’s circuit after the four Grand Slams) and the ATP Finals, which brings together the eight best players from the past season at the end of the season, remains compulsory for the world’s best.
Over the entire season, the ATP ranking of the best players in the world will therefore take into account the results recorded in 18 tournaments, compared to 19 so far.
The body which manages the men’s circuit thus intends to introduce “flexibility in the calendar” of the stars of the circuit, who publicly denounced in 2025 the current pace of world tennis while, for some, competing in lucrative exhibitions in parallel with the ATP circuit.
Profit sharing
A little less than a year after the legal offensive by a players’ union which had accused the ATP of “financially exploiting” them, the body assured that in 2025, a “record” number of “88 players” on the circuit had each amassed more than a million dollars thanks to their results.
The winnings sharing system introduced by the ATP in the Masters 1000 tournaments would have allowed 186 players to distribute $18.3 million between them last season, it is further detailed in the press release.
A similar sharing system will be implemented in 2026 in ATP 500 tournaments, and the ATP will continue to guarantee a minimum income to players in the top 250after having already spent “more than two million dollars” for this purpose in 2025.
Among the other subjects covered in its press release, the ATP specifies that the race to snatch one of the eight places at the ATP Finals (November 15-22) will now end a week earlier, at the end of the Masters 1000 in Paris on November 8.
In 2025, the points from the ATP 250 in Metz and Athens, organized the week following the Masters 1000 in Paris, were counted to designate the eight qualifiers.
The body also intends to continue the deployment of video arbitration in 2026: players doubting an arbitration decision and wishing to review an exchange to resolve the dispute will now have the possibility of doing so at all ATP 500 tournaments, regardless of the court on which they play.
The ATP plans to extend this technology to lower category tournaments (ATP 250) in 2027.
Live electronic refereeing, which replaced line judges to notify players of foot faults or balls out of court, will be maintained at all ATP tournaments in 2026, despite criticism from some players as to its reliability, particularly on clay.
Sabalenka ready to risk fines to avoid overwork
PHOTO DARREN ENGLAND, AAP ARCHIVES IMAGE VIA REUTERS
Aryna Sabalenka
Tennis player Aryna Sabalenka called the schedule “crazy” and said she is willing to risk fines for missing tournaments to avoid injury or overwork.
Sabalenka was asked about the possibility, as no 1 in the world, to manage her calendar as the American Serena Williams sometimes did.
“Well, the season is really crazy, and it’s not good for all of us, because we see a lot of players getting injured,” Sabalenka said.
“What Serena did, back then the rules were different. Currently, as was the case last season, at the end of the season, as I haven’t played enough tournaments [du niveau] 500, he [le circuit] gives us a points penalty. »
Sabalenka said that “the rules are quite complex” when it comes to mandatory tournaments, but she nevertheless admitted that she plans to skip some tournaments “in order to protect my body.”
“Even though the results were very consistent, I participated in some tournaments when I was completely ill or really exhausted due to too many matches. So this season we are going to try to manage that better,” she said.
Associated Press
