The Asian swing of the tennis calendar brings the sport to a country where it has grown massively in recent years. In China it is estimated that 14 million people regularly play tennis, making it the third most popular sport in the country after football and basketball. Despite the surge in popularity, partly created by the achievements of Li Na, their best male tennis player has recently made a public plea for help.
Zhang Ze is China’s highest ranked male player at 182 in the world. He has never won a Challenger title and has only won five matches on the ATP World Tour. With a ranking best of 148th in the world back in 2013, Zhang has claimed eight Futures titles in his career. His most recent match was in the first round of this week’s Shanghai Rolex Masters where he lost in straight sets to Martin Klizan (7-6, 6-2). Concerning his Shanghai bid, it wasn’t his performance that caught the attention of his home country, but what he said following the match.
“What I need most is money”. An honest Zhang said in his after-match press conference.
“I’m only training with one foreign coach, and getting no help from others, not to mention masseur or physio. Jiangsu tennis team pays his wages, and I cover his expenses to go to matches with me. I think my ranking is an obstacle. I need to raise it to attract more sponsors.”
The statement from Zhang has been echoed by many of the lower ranked players in recent years. The ATP has been criticised in the past for the disproportionate difference in prize money between the highest ranked player compared to the lowest. World No.1 Novak Djokovic has made $15,013,389 in prize money so far this year, which is 33 times the amount of world No.50 Mikhail Kukushkin ($451, 248).
One of the best breakdown of player expenses was written by American player Jean-Yves Aubone. Writing for American website Tennis Atlantic, he finished last year at 484th in the world. Throughout 2014 he earned $9,260 from singles competition, which is almost $5000 below the American annual minimum wage.
There is no easy solution to this issue due to limitations of money. ATP CEO Chris Kermode and the ITF have already pledged to increase prize money in lower level tournaments. At the start of this year Kermode said that players should be using the Challenger Tour as a stepping stone towards the ATP World Tour, the highest tier of men’s tennis.
“Almost every player earns their stripes on the Challenger Tour before they make it on the ATP World Tour and every bit of extra prize money helps as they look to forge a career in men’s professional tennis. The ATP is committed to making that career path as viable as possible.” Kermode said.
In regards to Zhang, he will continue to grind it out in lower level tournaments with the hope of improving his ranking to attract more sponsors. This scenario for Zhang is not a one off, it has become the norm for players playing outside of the main stage of tennis.
