The "Big Three", formed by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, is organizing to help players in difficulty by the paralysis of world tennis due to the coronavirus pandemic, explained the world number one Novak Djokovic, Saturday on social networks. World tennis governing bodies could also contribute.
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"I spoke to Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal] a few days ago, we had a long conversation about the near future of tennis, what is going to happen, and in particular how we can contribute and help the lower ranked players, who are the most in trouble, "replied Djokovic, interviewed by Swiss Stan Wawrinka on how tennis could help these players, during a live discussion on Instagram, Saturday after -midday.
"The majority of players ranked between the 200th or 250th place worldwide, and the 700th or 1000th are not supported by their federation, have no sponsors, and are in some way left to their own devices," continues the Serb. "At this point, it looks like there will be between $ 3 and $ 4.5 million redistributed to these players," he said, referring to an upcoming support fund, the Player Relief Fund, which could be powered by both ATP and players.
According to the specialized press, Djokovic, as president of the Players' Council, and in agreement with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, proposed in a message to all the players that the members of the top 100 in singles, and those of the top 20 doubles, contribute to this fund, according to their classification (from 30,000 dollars for the top 5 to 5,000 dollars from 51st place). In addition to this million dollars, a similar contribution from ATP would be added.
Finance with tournament endowments
"We are going to try to do something to help the players who need it most," only said circuit chairman Italian Andrea Gaudenzi in an ATP radio interview published on Friday. If he said he was "very touched by the fact that the big names express their desire to help the lower ranked players", "the difficulty is [...] that the reserves and resources of the 'ATP is not infinite,' he added. "We depend on the tournaments being played and we don't know when" the circuit will start again, added Gaudenzi.
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Djokovic also considered that part of the endowment of "certain tournaments [...] could be transferred to this support fund", depending on the future of the season and with the agreement of the players. "Or if we do not play more tournaments this season, maybe we can collectively donate to this fund a certain percentage of our prize money at the Australian Open, "he still imagines.
"Players are thinking about stopping tennis right now"
What about the fate of tennis in the midst of a pandemic? "There are a lot of question marks. The disadvantage compared to organized sports at the national level is that you have to travel week after week from one country to another, from one continent to the other ", notes the world number one.
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"Maybe we have to consider other concepts, like playing by geographic areas, in Europe, in the United States, he thinks. I hope that we will not get there, but if this coronavirus crisis s "Worse still, I fear we will have to find solutions, because players ranked between the 250th and 700th places in the world are thinking of stopping tennis right now."
World tennis has been at a standstill since early March and at least until mid-July, after notably the postponement of Roland-Garros in the fall and the historic cancellation of Wimbledon.