The ATP Masters 1000 is a series of nine tournaments that are held at regular intervals during a tennis season. The winner is awarded 1000 ranking points, making the Masters events the third highest tier after Slams and Year-ending championship.
Traditionally, the Masters 1000 events were held for a period of one week. However, the Indian Wells Masters and Miami Masters were the first Masters events that were held for a period of 12 days. Starting in 2023, the clay court Masters events held in Rome and Madrid will also follow suit, making them last for 12 days. This decision was made in the summer of 2022 as a part of ATP’s OneVision program which promises to elevate the level of tennis.
Further modifications were suggested as the Shanghai Masters will also become a 12-day event in 2023. In 2025, the Canada Masters and the Cincinnati Masters will employ the 12-day format.
The changes are suggested for better long-term profit sharing and prize money formula. It is suggested that during the second week of these Masters events, a parallel ATP 250 event will be held which will get a subsidy from the ATP Tour.
According to a report by Kamakshi Tandon for Tennis.com, “Prize-money increases would be set at 2.5 percent of a base level, plus a bonus pool with a 50 percent share of the collective profit of the Masters events. The complex arrangement includes an independent audit of tournament figures provided to the ATP Tour.”
The Masters events are all set for a rewamp and it will be interesting to see if this move opens up a room for more lower ranked players to participate in Masters events or whether the long duration takes a toll on the players’ body.
