Stan Wawrinka throws major shade at Stefanos Tsitsipas after Greek goes on tirade against 2-week ATP Masters events

Stefanos Tsitsipas' recent tirade against the ATP Tour have found one notable detractor - three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka. After seeing Tsitsipas call out the ATP (Association of Tennis Players) for poor scheduling of Masters 1000 events, Wawrinka took it upon himself to remind the Greek of what could be construed as a little bit of hypocrisy on his part.

On Thursday, November 7, Tsitsipas turned to social media to lambast how Masters events have turned into a 'drag' after they became two-week events, opining that it has resulted in drop in quality.

The former World No. 3 is of the belief that one-week tournaments like the Paris Masters, which ended last week, are the right way to go, and that the ATP should not be fixing what's not broken in the first place.

"The two-week Masters 1000s have turned into a drag. The quality has definitely dropped. Players aren’t getting the recovery or training time they need, with constant matches and no space for the intense work off the court. It’s ironic that the @atptour committed to this format without knowing if it could actually improve the schedule, but the quality likewise," Tsitsipas wrote on Twitter.

"Paris got it right, done in a week. Exciting and easy to follow. Just how it’s supposed to be. If the goal was to ease the calendar, extending every 1000 to two weeks is a backwards move. Sometimes, it feels like they’re fixing what wasn’t broken," he added.

However, Stan Wawrinka responded to the World No. 12's post with an old video link, where the latter was seen having a conversation with ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi. In the video, Gaudenzi explained the reasons for promoting two-week Masters tournament, stating that the main idea was to promote a "premium" product and also help players get more rest days between matches.

"The calendar is about strengthening the premium product, which is the main interest for the fans, which is seeing the top players in the top events in the top cities around the world," he said.

"Then you would have Madrid, Rome, two weeks, (followed by) two weeks. You have Shanghai, two weeks. You would have Canada and Cincy sharing three weeks. So we’re trying to expand, giving more days, more prize money, bigger stages," he added.

As of now, the Madrid Open and the Italian Open are both two week events, as is the Shanghai Masters. The Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, meanwhile, stretch across three weeks together, while the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open also take place over two weeks each.

Following Gaudenzi's statements, Tsitsipas can be heard voicing his support for the move, which is likely the part Wawrinka was pointing to in order to make his point against the Greek star.

"In a way also that means that the top 100 players are provided good financial support for their efforts annually," Tsitsipas said.

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Stefanos Tsitsipas' comments on the 2-week Masters situation came after Andy Roddick's complaints about the same

Alexander Zverev v Stefanos Tsitsipas - Rolex Paris Masters 2024 Tennis Tournament - Source: Getty

Stefanos Tsitsipas didn't kickstart the two-week Masters debate on his own. The Greek, in fact, was responding to what Andy Roddick was saying, with the former World No. 1 lambasting the format for being 'stupid' and 'so dumb.'

Roddick was of the opinion that extended tournaments were causing more injuries on the tour, and that it was a sentiment shared by most players on tour.

"The two-week 1000’s are so stupid. They’re so stupid, they’re so dumb. It’s the worst, I hate it. I feel like more people got injured because you can’t do the work on off-weeks to build your body up physically. If you’re playing every other day, you can’t go and do the intense work. The players are saying this. The feedback has been sh*t," Andy Roddick said.

Tsitsipas was last in action at the Paris Masters, going out in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Alexander Zverev. Meanwhile, Wawrinka played last at the Serbia Open, losing to Laslo Djere in the first round. Neither player has qualified for the ATP Finals this year.