The harsh reality of the tennis tour has come to light in recent times. Players find multiple forums to talk about their struggles. Although players are busy with matches for 11 months in a year, they still need help managing their expenses. Frances Tiafoe has become the latest player to express his feelings about the hardships on tour.
Tiafoe spoke about the vast difference in earnings between players. Only the top few players are able to earn a substantial amount of money, while others struggle throughout their lives. He said, “They don’t see any of the bad parts, but you only see the Wimbledon final, the crowds and think that’s tennis but nah. You’re either a tennis star or you’re starving.” The world No.14 exposed the difficult part of playing the sport.
The interview was part of the PTPA initiative. Tiafoe was interviewed by his brother, Franklin Tiafoe. The young American player also said that the PTPA will help the players in so many ways. Tiafoe mentioned that the sport has been rigid in the past few years and needs to bring in flexibility, which will help the fans alongside the players. As of now, the focus should be on the sustainability of the sport for all players.
Frances Tiafoe shares insights of the tour for lower ranked players
Tiafoe explained that the game of tennis brings a lot of financial value to the sporting arena. But the players share a minimal part of the total value. The case is worse for lower-ranked players. In contrast, the top players get the prize money as well as endorsements. The case for others is different, as they do not get signed up on endorsements, which means they earn nothing when not playing matches.
At present, the world No.100, Liam Broady, has earned over $ 432,579 worth of prize money this year. He has played 13 matches in singles and five matches in doubles. Meanwhile, the world No.250, Clement Tabur, is playing in the challengers as well as in ITF events. Tabur has earned $39,065 this season while playing in nine different countries.
I get you but we comparing a singles sports to a collective one.. Tennis players ranked under 150 struggle to make profit from tennis. Basketball players all around the world have a structure behind them to give them all (salary, physios, coaches) and they “just” need to play.
— Dino (@Ndino98) April 4, 2022
The traveling costs are all borne by the players. They need to play in different locations to participate in all events so that their rankings will improve. A few lucky ones are enrolled in tennis academies where, again, the fees are high. Tennis organizations need to get to the root of these problems; the financial part needs to flow in the right direction, or else it can result in the fall of the sport.