Jim Courier suggests some of the criticism regarding the Tour calendar is unfounded as the former world No. 1 thinks players still have some decent time to rest during the offseason.
On Tennis Channel, Courier brought up Jack Draper's recent statement that it would be "ideal" for a player to have six weeks off between two seasons. Addressing that, the American tennis legend noted that the Davis Cup Finals - which is the last official tournament of the season - ends on November 23rd, which gives players six weeks before the new season starts.
Courier also added that since the Billie Jean King Cup Finals date was moved to October, the WTA season for the top players basically ended after last week's WTA Finals concluded.
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Courier: There's a lot more offseason than some realize
If youre a WTA top-100 player who didnt make the WTA Finals, you get 10 weeks off since the last mandatory event which was the WTA 500 in Tokyo. For the men, the last mandatory event the 1000 event in Paris that is nine weeks off. The WTA finalists finished last week, they get two months off. The guys who are playing now but not going to the Davis Cup Final, like Jannik Sinner, get seven weeks off. So theres a lot more off-season that some of the public understand, realize," the former world No. 1 explained.
Players often argue that there is a very short space between the end of a season and the start of a new season.
But it is really important that we set the table for what the facts actually are because facts are very loosely used in this discussion often," Courier added.
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Some of the harshest schedule critics from the ATP Tour include Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz, while Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina have been very outspoken about the matter in women's tennis.
