The REAL Money Problem in Tennis
Tennis players don’t need any more support during this time than anyone else in society. We are all stuck at home, many people laid off.
Tennis needs to change the way professionals can earn their money and control their own destinies.
What is the problem?
For years it has been said by countless people that tennis is too top-heavy when it comes to money. The top few players are elaborately compensated (and rightly so) while hundreds of world class tennis players who are ranked just behind them struggle financially.
This piece will not explain every issue and theory as to why tennis is so financially unequal (which isn’t necessarily wrong), it will just explain some of the main viewpoints currently being discussed.
Dominic Thiem is not a bad guy for having his opinion
After the “Player Relief Fund” was proposed by Novak Djokovic and other top people in tennis, there were mixed reactions. The idea was for top players to donate between $5k-$30k, based on rankings, to this fund, which would then be distributed to players ranked 100-800 along with money from Major Tournaments and the tours. This was to help compensate players for lost revenue and to help them through this difficult time. Nice, right?
Well, not everyone likes this idea.
Dominic Thiem expressed his concern in an interview with Austria’s Krone Magazine:
“No tennis player is fighting to survive, even those who are much lower-ranked. None of them are going to starve. I don’t really see why I should give such players money, I would rather give money to people or organisations that really need it.”
Thiem followed up with some other comments, and as could be expected, there was a harsh reaction to his comments calling them ignorant, privileged, or mean. In all fairness though, Thiem has won every dollar he’s made in tennis and like anyone, shouldn’t HAVE to give it away. He could choose to, but it’s clear that his choice wouldn’t be to other players.
Since Thiem isn’t a terrible person and doesn’t want to be perceived as so, he later clarified some of his comments saying that he would give money to those in need but doesn’t feel the Player Relief Fund is the best way to do it.
Ines Ibbou’s Video Is Nice But…
After Thiem’s comments circulated, Algerian tennis player Ines Ibbou made a reaction video that criticized Thiem’s position and privilege while showing the difficulties of making it on the Future/Challenger tour.
She seemed to get a lot of support and she should! Tennis should be supporting the players who are struggling up through the rankings. BUT top players donating money is not the right way to do it. That is not sustainable. That is also not what many players want.
What do the players want?
Players want to be able to make it. Players want to win matches and tournaments and be rewarded.
BUT, not everyone can win right away when turning pro. In Ines Ibbou’s case, when you don’t have federation support, it can be incredibly hard to financially make it through dry spells while playing on the futures tour.
For example, if a player were to travel to Los Angeles to play in the F1 tournament and lose in the 1st round, they would walk away with something like $270. That money could not even begin to cover the expenses in getting there and staying. Players fly in from around the world to play and only 1 player wins. The pressure to play well and to justify the travel would be crazy. At the Challenger level the money gets better and players can get closer to breaking even if they stayed at that level.
Journeyman ATP player John Millman has weighed in on the money topic:
So it’s obviously hard to make it as a professional tennis player. As money in the sport increases thanks to players like Federer, Williams, Nadal, Djokovic it should be spread further down the list of tournaments so that players can fight for it and earn a decent living.
Could the WTA/ATP Tours do better at promoting players who aren’t “stars?” Of course, and they need to. But that is another conversation.
Real money should be available for players who win matches at any level of professional tennis. Let them fight for it instead of donating to their “cause.”
by Stephen Boughton, chief fire starter @theslicetennis
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