Mark Petchey had a strong message for ATP Tour schedule critics as Emma Raducanu's former coach is warning the players that fans could find their "moaning as a turn-off."
A lot has been said about the tennis calendar and schedule since the start of the indoors swing. And it reached its peak over the weekend, when Holger Rune injured his Achilles tendon and left the court in tears before going under the knife. The world No. 10's mother Aneke unloaded at the ATP authorities following the 22-year-old's injury, pretty much blaming the mandatory tournament rules for what happened to the 22-year-old.
Following Rune's brutal injury, Jack Draper and Taylor Fritz took to X to share some strong views about the schedule, with the Briton stating that, "We are pushing our bodies to do things that they aren't supposed to in elite sport." The American agreed with his take.
Petchey: People won't watch a sport where multi-millionaires moan, it's a turn-off
"Players/team members firebombing their own tour publicly is a bad, if not suicidal, commercial strategy. People that love tennis will watch tennis. People who don’t love tennis won’t watch a sport where multi-millionaires moan. It’s a turn-off. Most would happily embrace the grind that is currently being torched. You can’t grow the sport by dropping grenades in the press," Petchey wrote on X.
"Sinner missed 3 months of the tour. 4 Masters events and is 2 in the race. You have a choice how much you want to play in reality. You just lose a share in the bonus pools. You aren’t forced to do anything when you look at it like that."
Players/team members firebombing their own tour publicly is a bad, if not suicidal, commercial strategy.
People that love tennis will watch tennis. People who don’t love tennis, won’t watch a sport where multi-millionaires moan. It’s a turn off. Most would happily embrace the…
— Mark Petchey (@_markpetchey) October 21, 2025
The tennis schedule debate has been long going and there are no indications that it will end go away anytime soon.
