ALMATY – The overhaul the ATP has announced for 2028 has its critics and its supporters. Some are wary of a calendar that will make life harder for smaller tournaments, while others believe that prioritising the biggest ones will be better for the health of the tour. Daniil Medvedev firmly counts himself among the latter.
“It could be a very long answer, but I’m going to try to keep it short. I have always been a fan of giving more importance to bigger tournaments, because it’s not ideal when we can potentially play up to 30 tournament weeks in a year,” the Russian said on his arrival at the Almaty Open.
The ATP announced that from 2028, Masters 1000 events will award more ranking points and that players will no longer be able to replace their three worst results at that level by playing 500 or 250 events. The statement also confirmed a calendar with exclusive weeks for each category of event.
“I think it would be good if we give huge importance to Grand Slams and Masters, play these tournaments and with the rest you see how it goes,” said the former world No. 1.
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Medvedev, who has just played 13 matches in 23 days in China, nevertheless decided not to skip Kazakhstan, where he is the defending champion and top seed, and will open his campaign on Thursday against Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro.
He made clear that, despite winning the title in Hangzhou over the past month and reaching the semi-finals of the China Open and the Shanghai Masters, his presence in Almaty is not just about his push to secure a place at the ATP Finals.
“There are many reasons, it’s not just about Turin. First of all, my wife and I decided to come back because it’s a nice place for the kids, I have a commitment to this tournament, and also because it would make absolutely no sense to skip just Almaty and not Vienna, because you come back home for just three days and there’s zero boost in that. It was an easy decision to come here. For sure I’m a bit tired, but look, it’s not the first time in my career that I’m tired,” he said.
A good week in Almaty could be enough for the current world No. 5 to seal his place at the ATP Finals, a tournament he won in 2020 and where he reached the final in 2021. He currently sits sixth in the Race, just 300 points above the cut-off.
After Kazakhstan, he will play the ATP 500 in Vienna and the Paris Masters. A great chance to return to the event that brings together the year’s top eight players, having failed to qualify in 2025 after seven consecutive appearances.
