Deni Avdija, an Israeli-Serbian NBA player, recently agreed to a contract worth an estimated $55 million for the next 4 years as per The Athletic. It means that Avdija will nearly earn $14 million per annum until 2027. Remarkably, the 22-year-old is just 4 years into the NBA and yet isn’t the highest-earning player in the league for his age, let alone overall. But in Serbia, he has created a stir when compared with Novak Djokovic.
Advertisement
Avdija has made a name for himself largely since he has toppled 36-year-old tennis legend when it comes to his on-court earnings. Djokovic has earned $10.59 million in prize money this year and crossed that mark 9 times in his career. This puts a huge question mark on the pay parity between tennis and basketball, which makes Djokovic’s claim about players outside the top 75 or 100 of the singles and doubles rankings barely making money out of the sport to make ends meet.
Deni Avdija earns more than Novak Djokovic, a wakeup call for tennis?
The Washington Wizards small forward was earlier on a 4-year contract with the NBA team worth a minimum of $20.34 million. This meant that Avdija surely earned $5.08 million per annum besides other bonuses and incentives. The new deal, which will begin from the 2024-25 season, will have no incentives or team option or player option, making it a fully guaranteed one.
Deni Avdija deserves such a massive raise in his contract extension, the value being now worth $55 million. He is considered one of the team’s best rebounder and defender combined. In NBA terms, he still has a long way to go but has been marked as a potential future great already.
Deni Avdija has set himself up financially at the age of 23. If other tennis players’ earnings are considered, many players’ lifetime winnings do not match his. In fact, what has created a buzz is the fact that even Novak Djokovic, who is tennis’ biggest winner of all-time, has so far managed to make $21.1 million in a year as his highest winnings in a calendar year, just the one time.
Novak Djokovic earned that figure back in 2015, his most dominant season in which he won 3 Grand Slam titles out of 11 ATP titles overall. Apart from 2015, Djokovic crossed the 10 million mark in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019 and now in 2023. No other player has reached the mark as much as Djokovic, which shows perhaps how difficult tennis is as a sport in terms of competition and also earnings. With players being independent contractors of sort, they need to handle their own expenses for tournaments and most can’t even command tournament appearance fees and multiple sponsors.
Will Saudi Arabian investment and Djokovic’s support save the sport?
While tennis fans and many pundits have called out Saudi Arabia’s increasing investments in tennis, there could be a strong case in favor of it. It is likely that Saudi Arabia has a ATP Masters 1000 tournament at the start of each calendar year from 2025.
Despite having an enviable line up of sponsors and broadcasters, tennis largely relies on marketable superstars and European markets for it to be run. North and South American interest is on the decline according to the likes of Tommy Paul and Maria Sharapova, while Asian markets such as Japan and China need to yet be developed.
When it comes to the flow of money, tennis has suffered tremendous equality and this is what Novak Djokovic is still fighting for, courtesy his own venture, Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA). For example, the 20-year-old Serbian player, Hamad Medjedovic recently mentioned in an interview that he is struggling with the sport as he has lost more matches. And yet, it is Novak Djokovic who is generously paying all his bills to keep him afloat.
Because of financial issues, tennis is not just vulnerable to lose different kinds of audiences and markets but also could fall prey to evils such as match fixing and other corruption. It is only recently that the ATP introduced the Baseline pay policy that ensures a certain level of financial security for lower-ranked players and those who get knocked out in early rounds of competitions.
As a result, Novak Djokovic’s leadership without any personal agenda, will hold the key in keeping the ATP on its toes. His match with Carlos Alcaraz in December in Riyadh could perhaps be a turning point in tennis. Increasing prize money in tournaments for the first four rounds for example, would go a long way in giving players the incentive and confidence to just focus on their game, which could in turn give them endorsements.
Additionally, tennis needs young, exceptional and marketable players to take the sport forward, which is expected from Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner the most the moment. The game needs to be appeal to the lower and middle classes right from grassroots level across markets to make an NBA-like impact in the world.
