{"id":2097997,"date":"2026-08-17T19:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T16:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2097997"},"modified":"2026-08-17T19:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T16:00:10","slug":"ben-shelton-has-just-proved-why-the-atp-tour-needs-to-make-a-major-change-to-its-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2097997","title":{"rendered":"Ben Shelton has just proved why the ATP Tour needs to make a major change to its schedule"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Ben Shelton has just proved why the ATP Tour needs to make a major change to its schedule<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/liam-mcmillen\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Liam McMillen                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"17 Aug 2026 8:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"17 Aug 2026 8:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1786993210\"><br \/>\n                            17 Aug 2026 8:00 PM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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               <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Ben Shelton has just proved why the ATP Tour needs to make a major change to its schedule\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Ben-Shelton-in-action-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Ben Shelton looks on\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Ben Shelton looks on during his match                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Ben Shelton was dumped out of the Cincinnati Open at the first hurdle as he lost in straight sets to Jaime Faria in the second round.<\/p>\n<p>Shelton had come into the tournament in stunning form, by capturing the Canadian Open title for the second consecutive year in Montreal.<\/p>\n<p>The American defeated the likes of Brandon Nakashima, Learner Tien, Jakub Mensik, and Joao Fonseca to win the Masters title, and he did so without dropping a single set.<\/p>\n<p>All of this made his shock exit from the Cincinnati Open a major surprise, but it once again puts the ATP Tour in the spotlight when it comes to its scheduling.<\/p>\n<h2>How the last five Canadian Open have performed at the Cincinnati Open<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>2022: Pablo Carreno Busta exits in the opening round<\/li>\n<li>2023: Jannik Sinner exits in the opening round<br \/>\n2024: Alexei Popyrin exits in the opening round<br \/>\n2025: Ben Shelton exits at the quarter finals<br \/>\n2026: Ben Shelton exits in the opening round<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/ben-shelton\">Shelton\u2019s<\/a> exit is the fourth time in five years that a player has lost their opening match at the Cincinnati Open after lifting the Canadian Open title.<\/p>\n<p>Back-to-back Masters events makes it near-impossible to do well at both, and it\u2019s only getting worse with the hectic nature of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/ATP-Tour\">ATP Tour<\/a> schedule.<\/p>\n<p>Players usually hit a wall around the summer, which is the reason for so many withdrawals from both events ahead of the last Grand Slam of the year at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/us-open\">US Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Add into that the expansion of the two-week Masters events and it\u2019s very unlikely you will ever see a player win both tournaments back-to-back again.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/rafael-nadal\">Rafael Nadal<\/a> was the last player to win both events and that came all the way back in 2013. Even before the mass expansion of the ATP Tour, only five other players have managed the feat in men\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<h2>More ATP Tour news<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-protected-cincinnati-open-greg-rusedski\">Greg Rusedski says Novak Djokovic \u2018has to be protected\u2019 after what happened at Cincinnati Open<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-usopen-warning-wrist-injury\">Carlos Alcaraz sent big warning as he weighs up \u2018risky\u2019 US Open decision<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Those were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/andre-agassi\">Andre Agassi<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/andy-roddick\">Andy Roddick<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/pat-rafter\">Pat Rafter<\/a>, Eddie Dibbs, and Cliff Richey.<\/p>\n<p>If the ATP Tour wants more of the top players to try and achieve the feat going forward, they must separate the two tournaments and put at least a week between them.<\/p>\n<p>Players, such as Shelton, should not be put at an instant disadvantage at a Masters tournament because they succeeded at a previous Masters event.<\/p>\n<p>It will create resenment on the ATP Tour and it will only cause more players to skip one or both of the events on the North American hardcourt swing.<\/p>\n<p>Something must be done to save this swing, and it\u2019s simple: the ATP Tour must find a week\u2019s break between the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ben Shelton has just proved why the ATP Tour needs to make a major change to its schedule Liam McMillen 17 Aug 2026 8:00 PM Ben Shelton looks on during his match Ben Shelton was dumped out of the Cincinnati Open at the first hurdle as he lost in straight sets to Jaime Faria in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2097997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2097997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097997\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2097997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2097997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2097997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}