By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, February 19, 2026
Photo credit: Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Facebook
One of the world’s most prestigious clay-court tournaments is considering expanding.
The Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the first ATP 1000 clay-court tournament of the season, is “open” to eventually expanding to a combined men’s and women’s 1000 tournament though there are no imminent plans to create a combined event.
Meeting the media in Monte-Carlo to promote the 119th edition of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters starting on April 4th, Tournament Director David Massey said Monte-Carlo is open to becoming a combined 1000 event “without it being a priority” at the moment.
“It remains a project, perhaps in the future,” Massey told the media. “We haven’t made any progress at all. There have been discussions to, perhaps, have a WTA and ATP tournament at the same time.
“For that, we need more days. We remain open to that, but it’s not the plan for the moment. It depends on the calendar. It takes more weeks between Miami and us, and add more days. It will be a long-term project.”
Timing and court availability are challenges. The Monte-Carl Country Club, which hosts the event, resides in a confined space raising the question: Would there be enough courts, under current conditions, to host two tournaments simultaneously?
Madrid and Rome each host ATP and WTA 1000 tournaments later in the spring. If Monte-Carlo did someday host a combined men’s and women’s tournament it would mark five combined 1000 events in a row during the spring with Monte-Carlo joining Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, Rome.
Still, Tournament Director Massey suggested it’s more of a long-term vision rather than a pressing quest for Monte-Carlo.
“We are open to that, without it being a priority for the tournament,” Massey said. “We are delighted with the format we have at the moment, with a field of 56 players.
“We and Paris, we are the two Masters 1,000 made this way. It gives us an extremely competitive first round, more than for a Grand Slam or other tournaments where you can move slowly. Here, it’s hard. And we like that. It’s intense for the players, but it’s a format that they like and that the fans like.”
Massey’s comments come days after the WTA announced it is creating an Architecture Council to address crammed calendar concerns of players.
WTA Chair Valerie Camillo announced the creation of the Council on Tuesday.
It will be chaired by 2024 US Open finalist Jessica Pegula with former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, WTA Players’ Council member Maria Sakkari and Katie Volynets and WTA Council Chair Anja Vreg all sitting on the Council.
The Council’s main aim will be to “develop actionable recommendations for consideration by the WTA Board that can be implemented as soon as the 2027 season,” Camillo said.
The WTA announcement comes a couple of days after the WTA 1000 event in Dubai was hit by mass player withdraws.
The world’s Top 2-ranked players, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, pulled out with Doha champion Karolina Muchova, Doha finalist Victoria Mboko, Doha semifinalist Maria Sakkari and Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen all subsequently pulling out.
MORE: Mass Withdrawals From Dubai Spark Tournament Director Criticism
Those withdrawals prompted Dubai Tournament Director Salah Tahlak to call for harsher penalties for players who withdraw from WTA 1000 events.
“I think there should be a harsher punishment on the players [for withdrawing], not just fines; they should be docked ranking points,” Tahlak told Reem Abulleil of The National.
In her letter to players published on the WTA website, WTA Chair Camillo said the current calendar feels unsustainable for players therefore the Council has been created and tasked with the assignment of producing meaningful suggestions to create a sensible schedule that will not jeopardize the health of players.
“Over my first 90 days, there has been a clear sentiment across the Tour that the current calendar does not feel sustainable for players given the physical, professional and personal pressures of competing at the highest level,” Camillo said. “It’s important we take a fresh, collaborative look at how to best preserve the high-quality competition that builds value for tournaments and provides an unparalleled experience for fans.
