Before his stunning premature exit from the Indian Wells 2024, Novak Djokovic was invited to speak at the Upfront Summit in Los Angeles. He took the opportunity to speak about the financial struggles of the lower-ranked players in tennis. He shed light on how this inspired him to institute the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA).
Speaking to DreamWorks Pictures co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg at the exclusive Upfront Summit, Djokovic shared his concerns with the monetary inequality in tennis.
He said only a couple of hundred professionals can make a full living from tennis. Players below this have it tough and will be lucky to break even. He said only the most fortunate among these can afford a coach or even a physiotherapist for that matter. He claimed most lower-ranked players do not have the essential crew to back them. The Serb said the ATP and WTA Tours do help a little, but the root of the problem is the ill-structured tennis system.
“If they’re lucky they’ll break even, and if they’re very lucky they’ll get a coach, and if they’re super lucky they’ll get a physiotherapist. So, most of them don’t have staff members to support their careers so they have to do it alone. So many players that break even, they travel by themselves. Of course, tours provide certain help here and there, but because our tennis ecosystem is very fragmented, we have too many governing bodies.”
Novak Djokovic has long been a proponent of pushing more money into tennis and distributing it more equally. His concerns about lower-ranked players struggling to make ends meet are not unfounded. One story that made headlines recently is of Sumit Nagal. The Indian ace struggled with injuries which saw him fall out of the top 500 in 2022. In a heart-breaking appeal, he revealed he had only €900 (about $975) in his bank account in 2023.
This amount is in no way enough to sustain a professional tennis career. Nagal had to endure this despite being a player currently ranked around 100 (current live rankings have him at World No.95). Hence, players outside the top 400 or so would have it much worse, as Djokovic said.
Djokovic’s comments interestingly come at a time when talks of a ‘premium’ or ‘Super Tour’ are ongoing. The ATP Tour is reportedly considering a deal worth nearly $1 billion from Saudi Arabia which would see both the ATP and the WTA Tours merged, without the 4 Grand Slams being part of the deal, as per The Express.
Novak Djokovic outlines reasons and problems behind founding the PTPA
One of the biggest pillars Djokovic founded the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) is a better distribution of finances among a larger pool of players. Hence, the organisation has frequently pushed for improved financial handling and increased prize money. He elaborated upon the main goals of the PTPA at the Upfront Summit.
“The main mission of the player organization is to try to expand the amount of players that can live from this sport. To increase also the livelihood of tennis players that are currently playing, make sure that we have better foundations for the future generation.”
Novak Djokovic admitted that tennis is a globally popular sport where the top players are treated as celebrities. However, he pointed out that this top tier consists of only 300-400 odd players across all disciplines. He claimed many fans fail to realise this, adding that more players should be able to make a living just from playing tennis.
“I think tennis, look don’t get me wrong, tennis is doing well on a global stage. It’s a very popular, very global sport and we are blessed to be recognized as great athletes. A lot of people come and watch us play or on TV as well. But I think something that is really deceiving about tennis, and something that only a very small percentage of people who follow tennis or sport know, is that you only have around 300-400 people in total, male, female, singles, doubles, whatever, that live from this sport globally, so that’s a very small number.”
The PTPA has yet to receive major executive powers or recognition from the ATP/WTA. It also lacks the support of many top players for a myriad of reasons. Regardless, they still boast a strong core committee of Djokovic, Paula Badosa, Hubert Hurkacz, Ons Jabeur, and more. The PTPA has made enough noise for officials to take note and acknowledge the organisation. With over 100 players on their membership roll already, Djokovic will hope more join the fold.
