CHENNAI: A proposal put forth by Novak Djokovic, president of the ATP Player Council, will benefit Indian players if it sees the light of day. Late on Friday night, the World No 1, in a letter that first circulated on Twitter and since published in full by si.com, wrote: “This is what we propose. Top 100 players singles contribute financially to Player Relief Fund in the following financial chart. Rankings: 51-100: $5000 each. 20-50: $10000 each. 11-20: $15000 each. 6-10: $20000 each. 1-5: $30000 each. The top 20 doubles players will all chip in with $5000 each.
“Additionally, Roger (Federer), Rafa (Nadal) and I have proposed to ATP that 50% Prize Money of WTF (World Tour Finals) in London (If it happens in November/December) goes to the Fund. It will be another significant sum of money. Obviously, we don’t know if that event will happen this season. If it doesn’t happen, we should all contribute a significant amount of Prize Money from Australia 2021.
“Not just 3 of us, but all the players that are part of WTF in London or Aus Open in 2021. That way it’s fair that everyone contributes.”The objective of the $4 million fund is to help the lower-ranked players — in the 250 to 700 bracket in the men’s game — get through the crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic. Tennis is cash-rich at the top but as one goes lower down the pyramid, there is not much money so the fund aims to give $10,000 to the 450 or so players who struggle to break even even when there is competition.
The Serb addressed this proposal for the first time during a live Instagram session with Stan Wawrinka on Saturday night. Backed by both Nadal and Federer, the aim is to put money in the hands of the players between 250-700 because that’s where the ‘real financial struggle is’. In the letter, the 32-year-old wrote the Big Three are of the opinion that the top 250 players may not be in urgent need of funds as most of them would have featured in at least the qualifiers of the Majors at some point since the beginning of 2019.While nothing has been finalised yet, Djokovic aims to raise a total of $4 million, with more than $2 million coming from the four Majors and the ATP according to the letter.
With there being no competition at the professional level, tennis players across the globe have already had to dip into their meagre savings. And with the coronavirus pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, this situation could lead to bigger problems within the game itself.
Arjun Kadhe (World No 655), one of those who will benefit if it is ratified, read about it on Saturday morning. “It’s not final or anything but it’s a step in the right direction,” Kadhe told this daily. “It’s good to see players like Djokovic taking this initiative to help the lesser-ranked players. That money will help some of us immensely, it could be the difference between staying in the sport or having to look for an alternate career.”
Here’s how the fund will financially help Kadhe, for example. Last year, he made $13,145 for the whole year, including $4,330 until the second week of April. This year he has made only $1,750 so far. This is an issue Djokovic explicitly addressed in the letter. “Many of them are thinking to leave pro tennis because they can’t survive financially,” si.com quoted Djokovic as writing.
Sasikumar Mukund (World No 281) was hopeful that the money could also be diverted to the likes of Sumit Nagal, who is currently in Germany. “Obviously any money at this stage is welcome. So, yeah, this will be nice. But I don’t have that many expenses at this stage and I am living with my parents. It will be nice if players in the 160 zone etc. also get some relief. For example, Sumit is away from his parents in Germany.”
Sidharth Rawat (World No 438) is another player who will get money in the bank if it goes through. “I read about it today (Saturday) morning,” he said. “It’s obviously good and I hope it happens.”The other Indians who could potentially benefit from this are Saketh Myneni and Manish Sureshkumar. It’s not yet known if this scheme will benefit the doubles players lower in the food chain.