Is it long yes? But I have absolutely no issue with this because there are several quality tournaments in between.
You have Dubai later this month which is an ATP 500 event then obviously in March we have 2 of the biggest non Grand Slam tournaments of the year and the last true hard court events until the US Open Series in July as the tour heads to Indian Wells and Miami. After that clay court season begins and we have several quality french open tune ups such as Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome.
So yeah there is a 4 month gap between these 2 majors but we have 7 quality ATP tournaments worth watching in the mean time.
Sometimes I watch the Dubai Finals. But if not, then the next time I really get into it is Indian Wells and Miami.
So yeah, the gap from the AO until potentially Indian Wells feels long, especially after the 2 great weeks the AO is.
After the USO, I don't mind the break then until the WTF. (Sometimes I watch Shanghai and Paris Masters Finals, sometimes not). Because with the holidays coming up and the MLB playoffs, there's other things.
But right now, even though there's still NBA on and I love the NBA too, the NBA regular season can't match the high of watching a tennis major, so there is a lull felt for the next few weeks.