"I don't know how the 2025 season starts in 2024, it's a joke" - Jordan Thompson minces no words slamming tennis off-season schedule

Jordan Thompson became the latest addition to the long list of players who slammed the tennis schedule. The Australian expressed his disappointment at how the 2025 season has kicked off in 2024 itself.

Thompson is currently competing at the Brisbane International where he is the eighth seed. The 30-year-old had a mammoth task in the first round where he faced Matteo Berrettini but the home favorite clinched a resilient 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win to reach the next round.

During the post-match press conference, Thompson was asked about his thoughts on the short tennis off-season. He lashed out at the schedule and mentioned how the Australians faced a higher difficulty due to their geographical disadvantage. This issue was also brought up by Nick Kyrgios recently. Thompson said:

"Feels like it. Feels like two seconds (smiling)."

"Yeah, it's a tricky one, especially for us Aussies. We practically leave after the Australian Open and we don't come back until Davis Cup is finished. The season's that long. We come back at the end of November. Yeah, we're away for 10, 11 months. It feels like literally we get three weeks off if you play Davis Cup. That's great. Then you got them pushing for an earlier start."

He also mentioned how the 2025 season started in 2024 itself and dubbed the scheduling a 'joke'.

"I don't know how the '25 season starts in '24. I mean, it's a joke. We should be playing next week. There's a lot of things in our sport that need a bit of cleaning up at the moment."

Thompson is not the first player to slam the tennis schedule. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek are also some of the big names to have expressed their disappointment at the tennis schedule in 2024.

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"I just want to get down to the beach, chill out, take two weeks off the racquets" - Jordan Thompson on how he recharges during the offseason

Jordan Thompson (Source: Getty)

In the same interview, Jordan Thompson also discussed how he rejuvenated himself during the offseason but mentioned he still had to continue some physical training to keep his body ready for the upcoming season.

"For me when I come back to Australia, I just want to get down to the beach, chill out, take two weeks off the racquets. But still got to do a lot of physical stuff to stay in shape."

"It is literally three weeks before you're back into tournament mode. You can't afford to have any slip-ups with that amount of time off physically," he added.

Jordan Thompson will face Alex Michelsen in the next round. The Aussie also participated in doubles at the Brisbane International alongside Christopher O'Connell but the home favorite duo were eliminated by Jakub Mensik and Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 3-6, 6-10 in the opening round.