Rafael Nadal launched a furious attack on the men's professional tennis schedule today as the triple French Open champion faced the prospect of three claycourt Masters tournaments in the space of one month.
"I have already said this many times - the calendar is completely crazy," the Spanishworld No 2 told news agency AFP ahead of his tilt at a fourth successive Monte Carlo Masters crown this week.
"It's not fair for European players and for clay court players. Three Masters events in four weeks, it's too much."
The Monte Carlo Masters, which started here today, will be followed by the Rome and Hamburg Masters which get underway on May 5 and May 12 respectively.
"A lot of things have to change at the ATP because the players don't have any confidence in them anymore.
"I believe that it's necessary to try and change a lot because the players don't have any influence in the ATP", AFP reported Nadal as saying.
Many European players are known to be upset that the Miami Masters was brought forward a week to avoid a clash with the American college basketball finals which dominate US television schedules in the spring.
The 2008 calendar has also been affected by the presence of the Olympic Games in Beijing in August.
