299-ranked Karue Sell is all set to appear in the opening round of the ATP Challenger event – Antofagasta on Tuesday. Ahead of his first-round clash, Sell expressed his disappointment over their pay policies.
On Monday, Sell explained how the amount paid by the ATP is not enough for a player to pursue the sport in a professional manner. He took to his Twitter handle to break the good news of entering the top 300 rankings. However, the player mentioned that he would make more money working at McDonald’s than playing tennis.
He further added players ranked in the top 100 and 200 are underpaid. Leaving the top-ranked players aside, he believes that the rest should be paid more salary by ATP than what they are currently earning. He believes his ‘online work’ is helping him meet his current financial needs.
“Today I broke 300 for the first time. Yet I’d make more money working at McDonald’s I’m ok because of my online work but I feel for my peers. The level is so high now all the way to 400 (at least), go watch a challenger. Tennis outgrew the conventional top 100,” wrote the Brazilian player in his tweet while sharing the screenshot of his ATP profile.
Today I broke 300 for the first time. Yet I’d make more money working at McDonald’s I’m ok because of my online work but I feel for my peers. The level is so high now all the way to 400 (at least), go watch a challenger. Tennis outgrew the conventional top 100 pic.twitter.com/ld7Ovjxkbm
— Karue Sell (@KarueSell) September 23, 2024
He also roped in the Novak Djokovic-led Professional Tennis Players Association, urging the association to fight for a change.
He wrote, “Top 50 should make more, 100, 150, 200. There’s money. Would love to see some real change here @ptpaplayers. Without a union players have no say. Just shut up and play.”
In a follow-up tweet, while replying to a fan, Sell also revealed that he travels solo for his events, without any coach, physiotherapist, or a professional team.
Yep travel solo
— Karue Sell (@KarueSell) September 23, 2024
Other than playing tennis, Karue Sell also runs a YouTube channel under his own name. Through this channel, he often shares his training videos and points of view on various matches from his past. The videos further showcase the various challenges he sets up for himself. The channel has approximately 143k subscribers with 321 videos having been posted already.
He also runs an Instagram page for his YouTube channel where he shares short snippets from his long videos. The page too has around 52.6k followers while his personal profile is followed by 15.5k people. It is safe to say that Sell has established a major online presence, which is one of his primary sources of income.
