ATP
Show us the money!
WOMEN’S tennis is facing a financial impasse after a number of top 20 stars wrote t the WTA recently demanding ‘minimum wages’ for players.
Among what many believe to be a long list of demands, players are looking for a guaranteed minimum pay where the top 100 players will be paid $500,000.
Those between 101 and 175 earn $200,000 and lastly, the 176 and 250 bands receive $100,000.
That’s $50 million a year for the top 100, plus $15 million for the second tier and $7.5 million for the 175-250 ranked players.
In total $72.5 million per annum minimum guaranteed.
Players though are not employees of either the WTA or the ATP – or of any event. They are self employed sports men and women, most operating as independent businesses.
There has been no response as yet from the WTA – but this push comes after the richer and far greater performing ATP announced its financial security program two months ago.
Nice idea if all things were equal – but they are not – as there is a massive disparity in prize money between men and women, with WTA players making a lot less annually compared to men.
Why? Because the ATP is a better commercial body, getting bigger sponsorship and tournament fees from hosts than the WTA, combined with the fact that men’s tennis, especially Slams and major events are way more commercially attractive than the women’s equivalent.
Currently, only the four Slams and a select few ATP/WTA 1000 events offer equal prize money to men and women.
It may seem laudable to want equal pay – but tennis is not equal – the ATP a far superior management organisation than the WTA, outside of Slam and 1000 events.
So where does this guaranteed money come from?
Sponsors? TV rights? Neither will pay more without a return on investment – which leaves us with an impasse that currently looks likely to continue for some time to come.
Selling out to the Saudis may bring extra revenue – but at what cost?
The top 10 players in the world in 2023 amassed $195.7 million from the game (source Forbes). Perhaps they could make a donation to the cause?
NOVAK Djokovic and his PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association) had this to say earlier this year about player prize money:
“According to some statistics, we are number three or four in the world in terms of viewership. 1.3 billion people are watching us. And yet only 400 people – men and women – can make a living from this sport.”
On what format is this statistic based?
Tennis is very seasonal – the four slams attract big international audiences, everything else doesn’t, often appearing on little known subscription-based digital channels that offer very little exposure to potential sponsors or advertisers.
MEANWHILE, Dkjovic has accused the game’s authorities of putting the health of players in danger by their decision to use different balls for each event.
Djokovic told Sportal the changing of tennis balls in different tournaments is a huge threat to players, contributing to an increase in shoulder and wrist injuries.
“There is certainly a connection between frequent injuries of the wrist, elbow, and shoulder with ball changes,” Djokovic said last week.
“I am absolutely in favour of choosing one ball with which we will play all ATP tournaments. It is different and more difficult with the Grand Slams because each of the biggest tournaments we play, negotiates separately which sponsor they will have for the balls, but this also happens on the ATP tour.
“Every tournament has the right to negotiate. However, we simply have to find a way to unify, so that in each category on the ATP tour we have one ball to play with, depending on the surface.
“I support the players complaining and asking the ATP to find a way to resolve it. They have to find a solution.
“When you have tennis players from the top who are trying to reach you in public and say ‘Hey, let’s talk about that topic,’ you have to make a statement.”
SUMMER is on its way Down Under and it came as no surprise last week when Tennis Australia Boss Craig Tiley popped up on TV to promote the 2024 Australian Open.
And the announcement that Rafa Nadal wants to make possibly one last visit to Melbourne, was a perfect PR gift for Tiley and his organisation.
Nadal, 37, will play Melbourne again in January, quashing rumours he was about to retire from the sport.
“We can reveal exclusively here that Rafa will be back,” Tiley told the Today show.
“He’s been off for most of the year, and in talking to him over the last few days he confirmed he will be back, which we’re really excited about. That’s awesome.”
It will be Nadal’s first action on the ATP Tour since he crashed out of the Australian Open in January with a hip injury.
ANOTHER comeback, according to Tiley, will see local hero Nick Kyrgios back on court.
Tiley said Kyrgios still had work to overcome a knee injury, but was confident he would play.
“The one thing great about Nick – he’s very transparent and very open about what he’s feeling and what he thinks … I personally believe in the communication that he’s motivated to come back and play in January,” Tiley said.
“He loves playing, he loves playing here in front of his crowd, and he knows everyone wants him to play.”
Kyrgios missed Wimbledon with a wrist injury while the knee issue has kept him out of other Slams.
Others back for the event include past winners Angelique Kerber (2016), Naomi Osaka (2019 and 2021) and 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki.
WHY Serena Williams is to receive a Fashion Icon award at the 2023 CFDA Fashion Awards next month, is beyond us at Sunday Serve.
The awards ceremony will take place at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on November 6.
Wiliams, known later in her career for some bizarre on-court outfits, is the first athlete to receive the award, which has been given to such people as Lenny Kravitz, Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Naomi Campbell, Franca Sozzani, Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams and Rihanna.
AND finally…
Quote of the week comes from Spanish star Garbine Muguruza, who last week stated publicly she had no intention of returning to the courts anytime soon.
In an interview with Women’s Health Magazine, the player said:
“I am living this break very happily since it was something that my body and my mind needed. So, I am really enjoying these moments.
“As of today, I have no intention. My plan right now is to sleep, rest, be with my loved ones, make up for lost time.”
Her comments saw a flurry of reaction in Twitter (X) with one standing out: “This sport is lonely & tough.”
Alexander Zverev cooled the jets of a teenaged tearaway on Tuesday, schooling Spaniard Rafael Jodar 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to power to his fifth career semi-final at the French Open.
The world No. 3 German finished runner-up in Paris two years ago and is still seeking his first trophy at one of the majors.
Zverev has been a consistent presence at the business end of the event here, figuring iin five of the past six semis.
But the achievement doesn’t amount to much for the seed, who has his eye on the big prize.
“I want to keep going. I don’t really care so much about a semi-final,” he said. “I want to win all the matches in front of me.
“Today was a tough test against a good player – that’s it for now.”
The 29-year-old who becomes the ninth man to play five Paris semi-finals, got away slowly as the 19-year-old Jodar showed his intentions with an early break..
But the seed began turning the tables on his young opponent while trailing 5-2 in the opening set after dropping serve in the eight-minute opening game.
Jodar’s unravelling began as he served for the first set leading 5-4 but was unable to close it out.
From then on, Zverev was in control.
The German won the opener in a tiebreaker and dominated the second to claim that chapter also.
In the third, he broke the fading youngster in the first and last games of the set
before closing out the win with a running forehand down the line on match point.
“He had perfect rhythm in the first set and I didn’t,” the winner said. “I was playing too short and too defensive.
“The ball was also not bouncing as high as it did in (last week’s) heat, I had to flatten out my shots.
“He outplayed me at the beginning of the first, but I managed to come back.
he seemed a bit nervous when he served for (the set).
“I took my chances, it was a good match for me.”
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev in control at Roland Garros – by ATPTour.com
Matteo Berrettini took Italian revenge on Monday against the Argentine who knocked out Jannik Sinner with a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) fourth-round demolition of Juan Manuel Cerundolo at the French Open.
Former top 10 player Berrettini, now mended after several seasons of intermittent injury absences sent the South American packing in a solid clay display.
The Italian saved three Cerundolo set points in the third-set tiebreaker, with Berrettini claiming a match point on an inside-out forehand, and following up with a serve winner..
“I feel great,” Berrettini said. “I’m happy with the support in a full stadium.
“This is why we train and fight, I’m enjoying the atmosphere with my team and family.”
Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime booked the last eight as he put out another South American in Canadian-born Chilean AlejandroTabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1.
FAA becomes the first Canadian man to complete the set of quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
The 30-year-old Berretini from Rome is competing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2021 when he also reached the last eight here.
The current No. 105 is the lowest-ranked men’s quarter-finalist in Paris since in 2007.
Cobolli lost his first set of the tournament as he ran up against an American with negligible experience on clay, defeating Zach Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5).
The 10th-seeded Italian’s victory put him into his second Grand Slam and his first in Paris.
“I was a little bit nervous to close the match today,” the winner said. “It means a lot, this tournament, for me.
“Sometimes it’s not easy when you have to close, especially when you are up in the score like I was today.
“But also Zachary played a really good match today after the second set… tennis is like this. At the end, I was happy, and that’s the important thing.”
Svajda came to the major with only one career match win on clay. He began correcting that in the third round by beating Francisco.Cerundolo.
Cobolli cruised through the first two sets but his perfect set record took a dent in the third as Svajda forced a tiebreaker and saved a match point after closing the Italian’s 5-1 lead and forcing a tiebreaker.
It took a tiebreak fourth set to settle the outcome after more than three and a quarter hours.
Alexander Zverev stayed on track for a possible fourth Grand Slam final as the highest seed remaining in the men’s draw at the French Open moved efficiently into the quarter-finals on Sunday.
The German who has finished runner-up at the Australian and US Open plus Roland Garros, defeated qualifying lucky loser Jesper de Jong 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1.
With this week’s second-round losses by world No. 1 and top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic, Zverev could have one of his best chances at lifting a major trophy.
The 29-year-old reached his eighth Roland Garros quarter-final as he beat his Dutch opponent on de Jong’s 26th birthday.
He needed a tiebreak to secure the opening set but picked up momentum before crushing it in the third set to get off court in a relatively quick two and a quarter hours.
“I had some early difficulties but he started well,” the winner said. “But once I found my rhythm I felt comfortable on the court.
“That is important for my game. It’s (his game) is there, I just have to show it on the match court.”
With the recent 10-day heatwave now gone, temperatures dropped into the mid-20s Celsius, which should make for more comfortable conditions.
But Zverev is not so sure: “To be honest, I like the heat, I prefer it. My ball flies a lot faster through the air and opponents struggle a bit more.
“I also spend a lot of time in Florida so I’m used to the heat. But we have to make the best of it, things can change within one day.”
Zverev will bid for the semi-finals in a matchup against Rafael Jodar, the prodigy who won an all-Spanish fourth-rounder 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 over Pablo Carreno Busta.
The fightback took nearly three and three-quarter hours and put the 19-year-old into his first last-eight spot in only his second Grand Slam appearance.
He has reached the last eight here for a sixth straight year.
Jodar, ranked No. 707 a year ago, is the fifth man this century to reach the quarters in his main draw debut at the event.
The youngster made a 4-1 start in the opening set but soon found himself in a five-set dogfight against a 34-year-old dealing with a shoulder injury.
The winner of a clay title in March has now taken victory in 19 of his last 22 matches.
“He’s young and incredibly talented,” Zverev said of his next opponent. “He came onto the clay scene in two months.
“He will be a difficult challenge but I’ll be ready for it.”
Main photo:- Favourite Alexander Zverev wins third round match – by ATPTour.com
Roland Garros 2026 Men’s Day 10
Roland Garros 2026 Women’s Day 10
Sabalenka plays lights-out to stop Osaka in Paris
-
Madrid Masters4 weeks agoSabalenka all in on possible RG player boycott
-
ATP4 weeks agoSinner the winner to push on with Rome entry
-
ATP4 weeks agoSinner all-in as Grand Slam boycott pressure grows
-
ATP3 weeks agoDarderi earns Italian upset with defeat of Zverev
-
Brisbane3 weeks agoSabalenka sensation as top seed toppled
-
ATP3 weeks agoAnother Italian victim for Sinner
-
Indian wells3 weeks agoSinner coasts to opening Rome win
-
ATP3 weeks agoSinner storms ahead as skies clear in Rome