Two weeks in New York, playing tennis to a full house every other day, chilling, sleeping, shopping in between, and finally collecting three million US dollars. Sounds like a dream job.
The stupid thing is: Only the tournament winners in singles get the bonus at the US Open, which starts on Monday. Other participants get a fraction, which is still quite a lot in the case of a Grand Slam tournament. On the other hand, not so successful tennis professionals who chase their dream every week in some corner of the world often have to pay extra, at least for flights and accommodation.
How good that the professional association ATP shows a heart for the men in the shadow of the stars and guarantees them a basic income from next year: If the income of a professional from the top 250 remains below a fixed threshold, staggered according to world rankings, the ATP pays the difference . Even those who are injured or who are about to make the big climb as a youngster can claim basic security.
Published/Updated: Thomas Klemm, New York Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 1 Published/Updated: Pirmin Clossé Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 7
The ATP officials rightly praise their project as “groundbreaking”. The WTA is welcome to follow suit, then more tennis women could live above the subsistence level.
