Novak Djokovic recently spoke out about the issue of lower-ranked players struggling to make a living from the sport.
In a sport where 1.3 billion people watch, it's shocking to learn that only 400 to 500 players can live off it. Djokovic is determined to change this and wants to create a better system for all players to at least break even and he wants to use his Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) to do it.
“We have thousands, tens of thousands of players that are competing around the world. Unfortunately only 400 to 500, both men and women, singles, doubles, mixed, live from this sport. That’s something that I feel like not many people want to talk about, but I feel like it’s super important to always remind ourselves that we are, by some statistics, third or fourth most globally watched sports."
While tennis is one of the most globally watched sports, only a handful of players can actually earn a living from it. Djokovic believes that it's time for the tennis world to address this issue and create a better system for lower-ranked players.
"1.3 billion people watch it, yet we can’t have more than 400 people living from this sport, both men and women. I think we have to put that in our mind and really think about whether this sport is doing great or not.”
“Divisions are definitely not something that PTPA stands for. We actually want to unite, we want to represent more the voices of the players that are normally not heard, that you normally don’t get a chance to speak to or see them. We have to do a better job, we have to create a better system for them (lower-ranked players) to make a living, at least break even. I think if you’re 200 in the world, you can’t travel with a coach. This is not good enough.”
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