Novak Djokovic plays big game for bigger pay

Novak Djokovic has confirmed some of the world’s wealthiest tennis players were considering a showdown over prizemoney.

Former Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic during his first-round victory over Donald Young yesterday. Picture: AFP

Novak Djokovic — six times Australian Open champion and the first player to earn $US100 million in prizemoney — has always played a big game.

So his bid to galvanise players to unite in demands for a bigger pool of prizemoney at grand slam tournaments is straight from the Serbian’s play book.

Djokovic yesterday confirmed some of the world’s wealthiest tennis players were considering a showdown with tennis officials in a bid to inflate prizemoney purses further, but the former world No 1 is adamant he did not raise the prospect of boycotting next year’s Australian Open, amid discussions players want to unionise at a delicate time for the sport.

Djokovic, who heads the ATP Players Council, said allegations he threw tour officials out of a meeting in Melbourne prior to the $55m Australian Open were exaggerated. Yet it is clear the players group he heads is determined to reap greater financial reward from ongoing negotiations between the ATP Tour and the four grand slam tournaments.

“In the future we might have more of these get-togethers to see where we are, because we never get to hear what players think,” Djokovic said yesterday. “We get together, 100 players get together two or three times in a whole year … We wanted to use this opportunity to speak about certain subjects and see how everyone, you know, reacts to that, and I guess see what opinions are.”

Djokovic, who yesterday beat American Donald Young in straight sets on his return to the tour following an elbow injury, has support from peers. Former world No 1 Andy Roddick yesterday commented on social media that the move for a union of players separate from the ATP Tour was “smart”, while Judy Murray, mother of Andy and Jamie and the British Fed Cup captain, also backed the move.

Djokovic, 30, said he was motivated to “contribute to a better sport today and in the future” amid player concern that the four biggest tournaments are not distributing profits fairly. “Hopefully the next generation will even have a better sport,” he said.

More than 50 men earned $US1m or more last year in prizemoney, 41 of whom did so just on singles earnings. Players currently ranked from 176 to 200 ­averaged singles tournament earnings of just over $US100,000, last year, a figure that is eroded by coaching, equipment, medical and travel costs but can be boosted by sponsorships.

Australian journeyman Alex Bolt, ranked 188 in the world, who lost his opening-round match on Monday earned just under $US134,000 from singles and doubles prizemoney.

Grand slam tournaments have drastically raised prizemoney for early rounds, amid significant rises overall. Bernard Tomic pocketed $30,000 when beaten in the third round of qualifying on Sunday.

These increases have helped players outside the top 100, amid recognition they struggle to break even.

One reason for addressing prizemoney levels is an acknowledgment that the struggle to survive from week to week on feeder tours is leaving players vulnerable to corruption.

Talks of a boycott of the Australian Open five years ago led to prizemoney at grand slam tournaments more than doubling since, but Djokovic denied he raised it in this year’s meeting.

Roddick described the push to have a union of players separate from the ATP Tour as smart. “It’s been a good idea for a long time,” he said on social media. “(It is) impossible for an entity to represent both sides of a negotiation. I’m amazed it is not talked about more.”

The player negotiations come at a time when agreements between the ATP Tour and grand slam events in regards to the breakdown between prizemoney and revenue are believed to have expired.

The agreement the ATP has with its own tournaments is also believed to be up for negotiation at the end of this year.