Five-time Grand Slam doubles champion Paul McNamee has spoken out about the condition of pay for lower ranked players on the tour.
McNamee, who is also one of the founders of the Hopman Cup, made a series of comments on his Twitter account. The Australian argued that lower ranked players aren’t receiving a fair amount of prize money. Last year world No.1 Novak Djokovic became the first player to earn over $20 Million in prize money after his outstanding season. The is 20 times more than what world No.157 James has earned in his entire career ($1,056,198). Ward has played on the professional tour since 2008, winning four Challenger titles. Last year he reached 89th in the world after reaching the third round at Wimbledon.
The former doubles champion has also said that the variation of prize money for lower ranked players could be driving them towards gambling or potentially match fixing. Recently the world of tennis has been rocked by allegations of match-fixing in the sport following a joint investigation by the BBC and Buzzfeed News. The report alleged that eight suspected match fixers participated in this year’s Australian Open. The comments from McNamee said the following.
Grand Slams as well as Tours have responsibility to address market failure that sees the next generation unable to afford to keep playing…
— Paul McNamee (@PaulFMcNamee) February 4, 2016
Cont..If a player plays qualifying in all 4 Slams (ranked top 200) then he or she should earn a decent min. living wage #nottheworkingpoor
— Paul McNamee (@PaulFMcNamee) February 4, 2016
Let’s get serious… Top 200 are quality world class players and deserve better than poverty … It’s a disgrace
— Paul McNamee (@PaulFMcNamee) February 4, 2016
Do you think it’s a coincidence tennis players are being tempted to gamble? No exoneration whatsoever but poverty and crime are bedfellows
— Paul McNamee (@PaulFMcNamee) February 4, 2016
There has been numerous occasions when lower ranked player have spoken about financial issues. One of them was Zhang Ze during last year’s Shanghai Rolex Masters. Zhang is currently ranked 193rd in the world and has won eight Futures titles.
“What I need most is money”. Zhang said last year.
“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.”
Chris Kermode, the CEO of the ATP, has spoken about the issue of prize money on numerous occasions. In 2015 the ATP increased prize money on the Challenger level and this year some Futures tournament has had their prize money increased from $10,000 to $25,000. While the increases are welcomed by players, many still have weekly struggles with paying for equipment, coaching, travel and accommodation.
