Tennis news - Dominic Thiem hits out at relief fund proposal for lower-ranked players
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ByEurosport
Updated 27/04/2020 at 15:45 GMT
Dominic Thiem has come out fighting against the suggestion that tennis's top stars could come together to provide a relief fund for lower-ranked players during the coronavirus shutdown.
Dominic Thiem
Image credit: Imago
The world's leading players - Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer - last week proposed a scheme whereby the world's top 100 ranked men's stars would put into a fund to help professionals lower down the ranks until competitive tennis returns.
Djokovic, in his position as the president of the ATP player council, sent a letter during the weekend to fellow players asking for feedback on a plan designed to provide some monetary relief during the coronavirus-enforced suspension of tournaments.
The goal is to create a relief fund worth about £4 million and provide a grant of £8,000 for every player ranked between No 250 and No 700.
But the Austrian, Thiem, currently ranked third in the world behind Nadal and Djokovic but ahead of Federer, in an interview with Krone Sport, hit out at suggestions that top-ranked players should fork out for their colleagues, and questioned the commitment of certain players to the sport.
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"None of the lower-ranked players have to fight for their lives," he said. "I've seen players on the ITF-Tour who don't commit to the sport 100%. Many of them are quite unprofessional. I don't see why I should give them money.
"I'd rather donate to people and institutions who really need it. There is no profession in the world where you are guaranteed success and high income at the start of your career. None of the top players took anything for granted. We all had to fight our way up the rankings."
Thiem has earned a total of just under $24 million in prize money during his career, making him the 15th all-time highest earner in the sport.
By contrast, the highest ranked player who would qualify for the proposed scheme, Daniel Masur who ranks 250, has earned $263,000 during his career.
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Number 400 in the world, the Romanian Filip Chrstian Jianu, has career earnings of just over $26,000.
As one of the highest-ranked and best earning stars in the sport, Thiem's remarks will be seen as a blow to hopes that tennis's stars could come together in unity to lessen the blow caused by the coronavirus shutdown.
“I spoke to Roger and Rafa a few days ago and we had a conversation about the near future of tennis, how we can contribute to help lower-ranked guys who are obviously struggling the most,” Djokovic said during an Instagram Live chat with Stan Wawrinka last Saturday.
A majority of players ranked between 250 to 700 or 1,000 don’t have federation support or sponsors and are independent and left alone.
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