The HARSH Business Of Tennis...
2023 ж. 6 Қаз.
144 273 Рет қаралды
The Harsh Truth About Making A Living From Tennis....
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Novak Djokovic was the first who, ten or more years ago, raised his voice and stood up for lower-ranked tennis players, and with that act he became a sworn enemy of the people who manage the ATP. In 2020, together with the Canadian Vasek Pospisil, he founded the PTPA organization. The PTPA calls itself "an organization created BY the players FOR the players" to "support, protect and advance players' well being on and off the court."
This is why Tennis is called: Rich people's sport.
I cannot imagine how many talented young players had to quit just bcs they didnt have enough money . I am proud of my countryman Novak , now being rich he could easily forget about strugles of younger players , but he didnt . Empathy is a magic word that seems many lack of 😑... Bravo Nole , your heart is pure gold
In Japan, pro tennis players usually belong to a team, often a major tennis school, or some big company. Thus, they receive a base salary, a place to train and partners, which then can be complemented with other endorsements, prize money, etc.
I think it’s a good idea to play division one college like Isner, McDonald, Steve Johnson and others. You get a degree while playing high level tennis. Then you can actually start a career if the tennis doesn’t work out. And unfortunately, it likely won’t work out for most.
I used to play professional tennis for a while and even got the chance to play in 25k tours, but it was exactly the financial aspect that made me quitted in the end.
Entry fees are bogus. Feel like at minimum tournaments should provide a stipend for travel and hotel fees for any players that don't have to qualify, especially at the lower levels. Without the players, you don't have a tournament.
This is an important video! The grand slams don't pay the players enough. Novak Djokovic is very vocal he created a union with Vasek Pospisil. The slams need to pay players more money. More top players need to stand up. It is harsh truth pro tennis you need a lot of money and talent to succeed. The tennis players we see are the lucky ones. Good video.
The challenge with unions in the traditional sense, for an individual sport like tennis, is players are basically funding their competitors. Players at the top, with money, who are best able to fund the union don't want to support and develop players below them to come up and challenge them. There's a huge conflict of interest. One positive is a tennis player union may help to negotiate and pressure tennis associations/tournaments to increase prize money and perks that any player can compete for. However, as competitive the tennis sport is, once the union supports individual players to compete it will break down.
So it makes sense economically for players to fix matches…
You should have mentioned that the main treshold for surviving financially as a tennis player is to reach a ranking high enough to make it to Grand Slam qualifying. The cut off is just above the 200 mark and losing in R1 of qualifying of the US Open 23 gave a player a whopping 21,000 USD. That's the same amount as winning a Challenger 125 which is much more difficult. Cost of travelling and accommodation also varies a lot between countries, there is no way the average future players spends 500 USD per week on accommodation or 1,000 USD per tournament in travel costs. Some tournaments have subsidized hospitality and Slams have per diem payments towards hotel costs. The million dollar question is how many players globally should be paid enough to break even. I think 300-350 is a reasonable number in order to avoid talents chosing other careers.
I had a friend playing professionally tennis on the tour, and after she told me what she had to go through just to get the money to enter the tournament, I started to talk to other professionals about this issue and many other issues that professionals were facing. I tried to help start a professional players fund to help them compete, and pay for medical treatment if injured. This was done locally and I this idea I had with others was back in the late 80s while I was still in High School. The plan didn’t work out the way I wanted it to, because the adults that were organizing the association, were complete scumbags that stole the money out of fund! So Novak is right, the players need a functional players association that represents everyone and represents both women and men from all rankings. It’s a disgrace that the women professional tennis players literally have to have a full time job just to survive and pay bills, not including training, traveling, and fees to enter the tournaments. It’s a disgrace, and the players should look into MLB players association, which is one of the most powerful unions in the world, when it comes to organizing and taking care of their own. Great job on the video!
I noticed that this video was probably created during or right after what was called the Western & Southern Open (now the Cincinnati Open). The give away - the W&S Fila shirt that you were wearing! I'm a volunteer there and we do it for the pure enjoyment and love of the game and that particular tournament. We pay our own way - no hotel rooms, no free meals (although we are give a small food allowance for each day we volunteer). We volunteer regardless ... because we enjoy it. Volunteers come there from all parts of the country.
The problem is even worse, just to enter tournaments( qualification) ( 15 k ,25 k) you need to have some ranking, otherwise you find yourself always in alternates. And even if you get a chance to play qualification, probably you will lose in first round , as no experience and pressure.
The misconception is to call low ranks and low prize tournaments "professional tennis". Being a professional means making a living with something, and when you're not on a level to make a living then you're an amateur and not a pro.
Novak Djokovic made a big stink about this problem on the world stage a long time ago. He's awesome!
The residential coaching programs for 15, 16 year olds in the US cost parents about 40K/year. Few scholarships. And to even apply, you have to be in the finals at Kalamazoo, or have many ITC points by age 14, so you had to afford coaching to get that good, travel to get there at age 13 or 14, and so of course fans have missed out on tens of thousands of potential great players ever developing because they were not born into wealth. As a fan, attend a nearby ITC or Challenger event to financially support the system. Or donate to the USTA scholarship fund, if you can. Or, if you play, volunteer to coach 9 and 10 year old players. Someone like Taylor Fritz, heir to the May Company fortune, had lots of options. Some kid with great potential in your own town may have none.
The system is clearly broken but things maybe looking up. The work that the PTPA is doing is slowly making changes. I just hope more players come onboard and support the efforts.
Exactly spot on! ATP lower ranks are tough. I can say it’s a great learning experience for the harshness of Life!
Outstanding Video! Thanks!