One-time ATP Tour world no.39 Marinko Matosevic believes tournament prize money must take on a more even spread when tennis eventually resumes following the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Tennis is among the many industries brought to a grinding halt by the pandemic and a host of major events have been either postponed or cancelled.
Indian Wells, Miami, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Laver Cup are among them. International border closures and social distancing measures have made it impossible for the ATP and WTA tours to continue.
Prize money streams are bone dry, and that has had a devastating effect on player income, both male and female, particularly those sitting outside the top 100 of the respective tours.
There’s suggestion that some players may even quit if the pandemic’s toll is dire enough. American Mitch Krueger, ranked 195th in the world, told the Associated Press he has already considered his future.
The glamour of showpiece events and the sport’s biggest names dominate the game, but life in its lower echelons is, more often than not, overlooked. It can be a real battle, as Melbourne native Matosevic explained on Break Point.
“You’ve got to start with futures qualifying if you’re not a top junior. You lose there, there’s no prize money,” Matosevic, who spent significant time on the Challenger circuit, said.
“And then in futures, there’s hardly any money. You’re sharing rooms, you’re sharing a coach, there’s no chance of a physical trainer.
“It’s tough and you’re doing everything on your own if no one’s sponsoring you.”
Plans are in place to create a Player Relief Fund, which will be administered by the ATP and WTA. The fund hopes to generate some US$4 million for seriously affected players ranked 250 through 700.
Tennis’ governing bodies themselves are expected to make a significant contribution alongside the four grand slams. The top 100 men will play a role, as per a letter from ATP Player Council President Novak Djokovic, sent to his peers. The top 20 doubles players will also be involved.
Djokovic’s letter, reported by Sports Illustrated, details a tiered plan whereby players will donate a sum of money based on their current ranking. The world no.1 worked closely with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal on the proposal.
The concept is still open to deliberation, however, with the council encouraging player feedback. In a statement, the ATP said discussions over the proposal are “progressing well”.
Djokovic, Federer and Nadal have also proposed that 50% of prize money from the ATP World Tour Finals in London – if it goes ahead – is donated to the fund.
The overall prize pool for the 2019 finals, won by Greek world no.6 Stefanos Tsitsipas, was US$9 million.
Matosevic said support for lower-ranked players was necessary throughout the pandemic, but insisted prize money distribution must also be reformed when tennis resumes.
“It’s pretty simple, the prize money’s too top heavy. It’s got to be more spread out,” he added.
“At the Australian Open, it doesn’t need to be $4 million (AUD) for the winner.
“You just have to look at other sports, how much their guys, the 200th best football players or basketball players, are getting. Tennis is not even close.
“The tournaments want to break the records, prize money records for the winners and they compete with each other instead of evenly distributing it.
“They’ve got to even it out more, right from qualifying – not from the main draw – from qualifying.”
Djokovic and women’s champion Sofia Kenin each received US$2.75 million for winning the Australian Open, and in 2019, prize money from the other three slams averaged US$3.18 million.
Players who reached the third round of 2020 Australian Open qualifying received just US$33,466.
According to the player council proposal, the ATP top five would each tip US$30,000 into the fund.
Matosevic, who now works as a coach at the Liga Tennis Academy in Bali, Indonesia, called on tennis’ power players to act on the concerns of their lower-ranked counterparts.
“It’s the top players, the big stars that have to (step up),” he said.
“I know they’ve got their interests and they’re busy as well, it’s probably the last thing they want to encounter.
“But it’s really the top stars that drive everything in tennis, especially the top guys: Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
“They’ve got to sit down and just work out a fair system.”
The first major rejection to the proposal came from world no.3 Dominic Thiem.
The Australian Open finalist told Austrian newspaper Krone: “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.
“There are many, many players who don’t put the sport above everything else and don’t live in a professional manner.
“None of us top players got anything handed to us, we all had to fight our way up.
“I don’t have the guarantee in any job that I will do well and earn lots of money.”
The ATP said it hopes to finalise the relief fund in “due course”.
All ATP and WTA rankings are frozen until further notice.