Le World Padel Tour a published this week its 2023 calendar. If the fans are delighted with the 27 events announced, the players seem particularly annoyed. So much so that they put pressure on the circuit, threatening not to participate in the Open 1000. And that's not all!

The information comes to us from our colleagues fromOlé. According to the Argentine media, many players, members of the PPA, would have sent letters to Mario Hernando, general manager of the WPT, to express their dissatisfaction. Indeed, they believe that the calendar does not respect the contract which binds them to the circuit of Setpoint Events SA until the end of the year.

In question, three main elements.

The presence of Open 500 and Open 1000

Small novelty of the WPT calendar: there will now be two types of Open tournaments, the 500 and the 1000. And the Open 1000 will work like the Masters, namely that the first four seeds will start from the sixteenth. For the players, these tournaments do not correspond to what was provided for in the contract signed in 2018. Thus, they threaten to only play the Open 500, which operate on the same principle as the old Open. These tournaments being three in number, against 18 for the Open 1000, it would be a real earthquake for the WPT if the players carried out their threats!

World-Padel-Tour-Calendar-2023

Not another tournament!

As often, the circuit reserves the right to modify its calendar during the season. For this, he only has to communicate about the change one week in advance. On the other hand, the contract stipulates that he cannot add tournaments once the calendar has been published.

However, the WPT declared that the latter “was subject to the addition of new events.” The players therefore warned that they would not have “no obligation to play additional tournaments.”

Uncertainty hangs over Chile and La Rioja Open 1000 previas

In said contract, it is also specified that the circuit is supposed to communicate its calendar at least one month before the start of the competition. However, the publication was made on January 18, and the previews of the Chilean and La Rioja Open 1000 are scheduled for February 10 and 13…

Thus, the players reserve the right to boycott these events which were announced too late. Besides, they complain about the fact that the previas for the Paraguay tournament (from February 24 to 27), take place during the Abu Dhabi Master (from February 18 to 26).

The season has not yet started as the showdown between the players and the World Padel Tour is already well underway and we should soon be entitled to an answer from the circuit. Whatever happens, this year 2023 promises to be full of surprises!

Xan is a fan of padel. But also rugby! And his posts are just as punchy. Physical trainer of several padel, he unearths atypical posts or deals with topical subjects. It also gives you some tips to develop your physique for the padel. Clearly, he imposes his offensive style as on the field of padel !

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