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ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi has hit back in defence of the tennis schedule following a rise in players complaining about congestion. This summer has seen a string of both men's and women's talents publicly decry the current status quo, arguing there are too many commitments in a season that's too long.

Spanish star Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is among those to have taken aim at organisers of late. He pointed to the Cincinnati Open's men's final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner taking place on a Monday afternoon as a prime example of how things have gone awry. Davidovich Fokina tweeted: "A Monday final at 3pm in August in Cincinnati, after the whole Toronto-Cincinnati swing, with so many retirements and players dead tired... something needs to change."

Sinner retired from the Cincinnati final due to illness, with both players due in New York on Tuesday for the beginning of the US Open's revamped mixed doubles competition, though the Italian was forced to withdraw. Concerns were raised earlier in the Ohio tournament when Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech collapsed on-court in sweltering conditions.

But Gaudenzi has gone on the offensive in his retort and insisted "players choose their own schedules," meaning they aren't obliged to sign up for any given tournament. However, that may not be the response many critics were hoping to hear from one in his position.

"Our schedule is complex. It's a long season, and reaching the highest level week after week is demanding," he said in a recent interview with SuperTennis. "But this is also an individual sport: one player can be eliminated in the first round, another lift the trophy after the final.

"Finding a solution that works for both ends of the spectrum is never simple, and you can't build a schedule around just one cohort of players. All cohorts must be considered. We must be clear: the ATP does not control the entire calendar. We work around the Grand Slams, the Davis Cup, and other fixed dates."

Gaudenzi also sought to reassure those stars who have raised gripes over compensation, suggesting players aren't paid enough for their efforts. And he used the Cincinnati Open's £192million refurbishment project as an example of one initiative that will eventually reward the competitors in time.

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Davidovich Fokina is far from the only tennis talent to have questioned the calendar as it is. Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek recently said the schedule is "too intense" when asked what the biggest threat to players' mental health is.

"I think these kind of obligations and the rules about mandatory tournaments just put pressure on us," she said in June. "I think people would still watch tennis, maybe even more, if we played less tournaments. The quality would be better."

Meanwhile, fellow WTA stars Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Ons Jabeur each criticised the body for not putting on more night matches during this year's French Open. Fed up with the lack of change after several years of the same debate, American Pegula said: "It feels like just hitting my head against the wall, because I feel like we have been talking about this for two, three, four [years], probably forever, to be honest, because it's never been equal."