Not all glamorous living: What the tennis tour really looks like for circuit battlers

Grand slam tennis isn’t all million dollar prize money and first class treatment, for the hundreds of competitors who may not be household names, the tennis circuit looks completely different.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of grand slam tennis? Big prizemoney, packed crowds, players and their expensive Rolex watches?

From the outside it looks like a glamorous living for the top tennis names, but for the 128 players competing for the 16 main-draw spots at the Australian Open, who aren’t the likes of Novak Djokovic or Aryna Sabalenka and may not make it past qualifiers, the goal is to make enough money to simply fund the trip and make it to the next spot on their tennis tour.

The AO prize money for singles champions sits at $3.5 million AUD, while qualifiers will pocket between $35,000-$72,000.

Dane Sweeny counts on match payments to fund his touring career. Picture: Martin KEEP / AFP

Aussie Dane Sweeny, 23, is no stranger to life on tour. Travelling the pro circuit since 2021, his best grand slam result came in 2024 when he reached the first round of the Australian Open, with a peak world ranking at 194 coming in soon after.

He captures his day to day life for his followers to see but with no sponsors and just a match-by-match down payment keeping the playing career alive, Sweeny reveals how much of a toll the tour can take.

And he says coming from Australia comes with pros and cons.

“Being from Australia, it’s really tough because we have to travel so much,” Sweeny told CODE Sports.

“The body has to adapt to different time zones and diets and everything. I’m very privileged to do it, but it is a tough lifestyle.

“I think the players that don’t have a slam in their home country would have it a lot tougher financially.

“So I’m lucky to play the Australian Open, that puts a lot of money in my account to be able to fund myself.

“I mean, I’ve got some good status credits on my One World membership, so that’s a plus”

Sweeny had a full Aussie court three crowd cheering his name on Tuesday for his first qualifying match this tournament, an experience that he says he’s never had before.

“I don’t need any caffeine if the crowd’s like that,” Sweeny said.

“It instils so much belief and energy.”

A rookie on tour, Queenslander Hayden Jones, 18, has made the jump from juniors to pro this year and is taking the next step in his stride, with the support of his parents, grants and belief from sponsors.

Hayden Jones counts on family, grants and sponsors support to travel on tour. Picture: John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images

“This year, the Ashley Cooper Scholarship has given me some money but it’s mainly my mum and my dad, they’ve supported me,” Jones told Code Sports after his thrilling three hour qualifying loss at Melbourne Park.

“I’m trying to earn some money now on the pro tour and receiving the wildcard into this and first round qualifier earns about $30,000.

“So that is going towards everything, I guess it all kind of adds up.

Hayden and sister Emerson Jones are both top talents coming through junior ranks. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

“Asics and Head Tennis, they’ve stuck by me this year knowing that it’s not as easy to be marketed as like the top junior.

“So for them to continue to and believe in me is absolutely huge.”

As an outsider looking in, it appears routine for players to roam the global circuit with a posse of family, coaches, physios and even psychologists, but that luxury comes at a cost, and a stretch for those pushing for tournament qualification.

“It depends where I’m going but for the bigger tournaments, it’ll just be my coach, Joe Bunt, and my dad normally travels with me,” Jones said.

“We play a lot of board games, and yeah, it’s just hotel living for most of the year.”

A top talent coming through the junior ranks, Jones’ highlights as a teenager include winning the 2022 Oceania Junior Championships and suiting up for Australia at the Junior Davis Cup in the same year.

As of April 2024, he cracked the ITF’s (International Tennis Federation) top 10 world junior rankings.

He’s got big plans for the next 12 months, alongside sister Emerson of course.

“I have a ranking goal that I want to reach. I’m thinking by January 1(2026) I want to be inside the slam qualies, which is a tough task, but I think the way I’m playing, I can definitely do it,” the teenager said.

“Emerson’s doing amazing, she had her biggest win of her career a day ago and that was pretty cool to watch.”

Originally published as Not all glamorous living: What the tennis tour really looks like for circuit battlers