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Thiem on relief fund for players: “None of the lower-ranked players have to fight for their lives. I don't see why I should give them money”

13K views 125 replies 58 participants last post by  Nikola Jokic 
#1 ·




I think this might be fake news or taken out of context like Zverev’s statement the other day, but either way, it’s a really very unlike Thiem statement, shocked he said this tbh
 
#2 · (Edited)
I think this might be fake news or taken out of context like Zverev’s statement the other day, but either way, it’s a really very unlike Thiem statement, shocked he said this tbh
Lukas Zahrer is a reliable source when it comes to Austrian tennis, I've never noticed him being a sensationalist before, see no reason why he would be now. He just translated what Thiem said during livestream available here: „Gebe Geld lieber Leuten, die‘s wirklich brauchen“
I don't speak German so can't tell how accurate the translation is but, again, I see no reason why Zahrer would intentionally misintrepret Thiem. He's not TennisWorldUSA or something like that.

EDIT
Oops I have to take it back, somewhat. Completely missed that the original tweet made it look like Thiem was talking ONLY about relief fund. He was not. The relief fund was just a starting point in broader discussion about prize money outside the main tour. (They referred to John Millman's 'Why have top players waited till the virus crisis to start sharing money with lower ranked players?' post on social media.)
 
#3 ·
i will say that i dont believe players should be made to donate to anything and that the idea of creating a relief fund for lower ranked players by forcing top players to donate into it was a pretty stupid idea to begin with. however the part about lower ranked players not fighting for their lives just wreaks of ignorance . its like he's competely forgotten what it means to struggle to get to where he is

also the part about many of them being unproffesional is hilarious since fognini and kyrgios are to huge examples of unproffesional men making it to the top
 
#5 ·
Some important additional context:

a) The interviewer didn't just ask Thiem about the fund, but about John Millman's gripe that it shouldn't take a crisis to make top players aware of struggling lower-ranked players. Millman also explicitly called for the distribution of prize money to be rejigged to give lower-ranked players a bigger proportion of the pot. So Thiem wasn't necessarily referring to this short-term crisis fund, but also to the general redistribution of prize money as proposed by Millman. If the interviewer had been a better professional, he would have followed up the question with another one that clarified whether Thiem's views applied to the proposed redistribution or to the emergency fund or to both. But alas, he framed the question in an ambiguous way, then got an ambiguous answer, and was too stupid or lazy to seek a clarification.

b) Thiem didn't refer to the "ITF-Tour" in general, but to his own experiences on the futures circuit.
 
#6 ·
I’m just surprised because I get that Thiem shouldn’t be forced to donate for this charity and this should be more from the organisation itself, but this pandemic is a new situation for everyone so you would expect him to be more sympathetic towards lower ranked players who can’t earn money anymore because of this lockdown. They are suffering too.
 
#24 ·
I agree with Millman that prize money needs to be distributed better cause there’s no reason why people in the top 300 or even 500 in the whole entire world at a sport should barely be making a living if even that. But yeah Thiem is also right that it’s not his or other top players responsibility to send money or anything. It’s the ATP/ITF job to handle the money situation and make it more fair to everyone.
 
#32 · (Edited)
In a perfect world that would be the ideal scenario, but the reality is that it's just not how this business works. Almost no one cares about players who are outside the top 200 in regards to actually PAYING money to watch them play in person at challengers. That's why they get paid very little, because the attendance in most challengers is very small. However if it's grand slam qualies, then what do you know - all of a sudden a R1 loss is equivalent to winning a regular challenger because people love watching almost any singles match at the grand slam level. But at the end of the day, 95% of people only wanna watch the top 100, esp the top 50 players compete - both on TV & in person & actually purchasing tickets for big bucks to watch them live. That's why they also get paid the most.

It's unfortunate but that's how it is. You don't always get what you want or what you "feel" like you deserve - you get what people are willing to pay you for in exchange for the value you provide. That applies to everything in life. And in tennis the value of a player outside the top 200, on the grand scheme of things, is very small to be making a good living.

So perhaps ATP should be doing a much better job at marketing/advertising the great quality of tennis that players even in the 200-500 range can produce, to the general public. Otherwise I don't see the situation changing.
 
#26 ·
Why do I get the feeling his attitude towards futures players lack of professionalism and not putting the sport above everything else has much to do with how he feels about his brother. Obviously I'm just speculating here but I'm guessing he's financing Moritz's fledgling pursuit of a tennis career knowing full well he has about as much chance of success as your average MTF poster considering he's 20 years old and is sub .500 on the futures tour.
 
#27 ·
Thiem is showing a lot of courage to say this and he's right. Free money will not make the low ranked players better, they have to work harder and get better.
 
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#29 ·
Thiem is right about not giving them money, but I don't think it's fair to say some of these players are not working hard enough. Many work hard, but the benefits are concentrated at the very top. As others have said, the ATP and ITF have to ensure that resources are not too focused at those at the very top. If those lower ranked get better prize money, they can invest in better trainers, better equipment etc. That is how you get better. In order to make it, tennis is a sport that requires money. I think Djoker is in favour of improving prize money for the lower ranked players. I don't know about Nadal and Federer.
 
#36 ·
Yes, it's by unionizing which Vasek Pospisil has been trying to attempt with the players for a year now only to be prevented by Federer and Nadal.

In any case, Thiem is wrong here. Just because somebody doesn't have his serve or FH, it doesn't mean they aren't working hard enough. And if tennis as a sport ever has a chance of growing more (and drawing good athletes to it), it has to figure out a way to pay its lower ranked players better.
 
#39 ·
So it seems like it needed some clarification. But if he's refering to the money distribution it makes it worse TBH. If he disagrees with the fund, fine, kind of dickish, but he's entitled to not want to be a part of it. Now, prize money distribution is a well known problem for a while. Hopefully he stays away from the player's council.
 
#44 ·
From what I'm seeing, it seems Domi could be favoring the "if you're not a Top 300 tennis player, then you should not be a tennis pro at all"? Am I wrong in interpreting this? ITF did try that by doing the ITF Rankings and make ITF level tournaments not give ATP points but it wasn't received well. That being said not all fledgling tennis pros don't work hard. But it is true they probably don't have the talent to get into the ATP level, realistically speaking. Some ITF level players are also sometimes doing them out of whim and is a "job mismatch" for them. Overall though it is the responsibility of the organizations to help it's own "workforce" to have security. But also, I kind feel Domi has that "your poor because you're lazy" kinda attitude here, and while he is quite the workaholic, I do think his talent is also the reason why he's in the position he is right now that not all aspiring tennis pros have.
 
#46 ·
We don't see any players like Federer Evert Navratilova Stan Djokovic Nadal Maria Serena donating money to low ranked players. Thiem is right. They simply have to play better and win more matches and earn it.

America should cut all financial aid to allies to, even the $40b to...
 
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