With Roland Garros just around the corner, it’s customary for top-ranked players to skip ATP tournaments scheduled between the Italian Open and the French Open to focus on preparation. However, this year, several elite players have opted to participate in the Hamburg Open and the Geneva Open—a decision that left Courier baffled.

The Hamburg Open, recently upgraded to an ATP 500 event, and the Geneva Open, an ATP 250 tournament, are scheduled from May 17-24, ending just two days before Roland Garros.

Among those competing in Hamburg are Jannik Sinner (World No. 8), Lorenzo Musetti (No. 9), and Holger Rune (No. 10). The field also includes Tommy Paul (No. 12), Frances Tiafoe (No. 16), Andrey Rublev (No. 17), Francisco Cerundolo (No. 18), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 19).

In Geneva, Taylor Fritz (No. 4), Novak Djokovic (No. 6), and Casper Ruud (No. 7) headline the draw, alongside Grigor Dimitrov (No. 15) and Tomas Machac (No. 20). This high-profile participation in pre-major events is atypical and left Courier “shocked”.

Courier understands some choices but questions others

While Courier acknowledged the rationale behind players like Sinner and Djokovic participating, he questioned the motivations of others. “There is a lot of insurance at play for someone like Sinner. For Djokovic, he needs the matches as he hasn’t played much, and he’s likely looking to get two or three matches in and then withdraw to focus on Paris,” Courier explained on the Tennis Channel.

However, he suggested financial incentives may have influenced many of these decisions. “But I’m really shocked, honestly, to see some of these names on here,” he said. “Look, let’s set the table. These tournaments can pay appearance fees. So some of these players will have accepted a big guarantee, I’m talking hundreds and thousands of dollars just to show up to play and they don’t have to win a match to get that money, so there is some commercial aspect to this”.

Hamburg’s upgrade to ATP 500 raises questions

Courier highlighted the Hamburg tournament’s upgrade to an ATP 500 as a key factor in attracting top players. He noted that this year’s ATP 500 events feature a new bonus pool worth $3 million, shared among players who compete in at least four such tournaments.

“The serious players who think they’re going to win Roland Garros or challenge for Roland Garros, they don’t play these tournaments, and one thing that is different this year, and this is the only time that I’ve seen this, there’s an ATP 500 tournament here, Hamburg, that’s been put into this section,” Courier noted. “That doesn’t happen before Wimbledon, doesn’t happen before Australia, doesn’t happen before the US Open”.

“There is a new bonus pool for ATP 500 this year. Six players who play at least four of these ATP 500 tournaments will share $3m in extra money so there are substantial financial incentives to play for players that are in that conversation,” he added. “So there is a lot that goes into this. [But] there’s no amount of appearance money or bonus pool money that can replicate the kind of money you make if you win Roland Garros”.