MELBOURNE – Reaching glory in tennis tastes better after taking the long road, says Marin Cilic. And on the path that begins at the most modest tournaments, ATP 250 events are where a major step forward can be made. But those opportunities will be reduced, and the Croatian laments it.
“I will feel sad to lose 250’s,” the 2014 US Open champion told CLAY in Australia.
The governing body of the men’s tour is planning restructuring over the next two years, and every lower-tier tournament is at risk of disappearing or being downgraded, revealed its chairman, Andrea Gaudenzi.
“The goal is to continue reducing the number of 250 tournaments,” said the head of the ATP. The plan for 2028 is to have just ten weeks of 250s. In 2025, the smallest tournaments in the elite tennis pyramid were spread across 17 weeks.
“I’m a traditional guy, I love the small tournaments. When I started my career I went from Satellites, Futures, then to Challengers, and then 250’s. Everything has its own piece of flair,” said the finalist at the 2018 Australian Open and 2017 Wimbledon.
Cilic has been competing professionally for two decades and has seen the tour develop from the inside. He understands the importance of smaller events in developing tennis in each country and as a platform for the emergence of new stars: “When you reach the top having come through the smaller events, you appreciate it more.”
“It’s a big question, a big debate, a huge decision about where the tour is going… we’ll see what they say,” he added.
The new puzzle Gaudenzi is putting together at the helm of the ATP has, as its main pillar, the inclusion of a new Masters 1000 event in Saudi Arabia for the 2028 season. The tenth Masters 1000 would likely take place in February.
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Other voices in tennis have also shared their views on the future of the sport.
In an interview with CLAY, Yevgeny Kafelnikov was categorical: “You’re trying to create this absurd tour where nobody has the chance to break through. The 250 tournaments are necessary: they help develop young players and promote tennis globally. Are you going to get rid of tournaments that have sustained and promoted the Tour for forty years just because Saudi Arabia offers more money? If we keep going down this path, I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen to tennis in the future.”
Toni Nadal had already warned in a 2023 interview with CLAY about the neglect of smaller tournaments: “We’ve entered a world where people no longer place much value on small tournaments. I think that’s a mistake.”
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