Why most tennis players struggle to make a living

Tennis fails where other sports provide a living for their players.

During the US Open in New York, Vox video sat down with professional tennis players and the head of the Professional Tennis Players Association to explain the pay problem in the top-five global sport. Tennis is unique among other professional sports in how players are paid, what costs they are responsible for, and how they are categorized as independent contractors. The result is that — unless you are consistently among the very top-ranked players like Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Naomi Osaka — it’s nearly impossible to make a living with income from tennis alone.

Unlike other sports that provide support for people outside the very top performers, tennis leaves them high and dry.

In 2021, Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil co-founded a players organization in part to try to address these issues they believe pose an existential threat to the sport. It’s called the Professional Tennis Players Association, and Vox video worked with it to interview players and the organization’s president to shed light on the structural issues that cause such a pay disparity when compared with other global sports.

The Professional Tennis Players Association site:

New York Times magazine published a great magazine piece on this issue:

And a more recent ESPN piece on the issue:
For a profile on Taylor Townsend:

The ATP will be trialing a minimum wage for players starting next year:

[charlesmoxey]

Wow. I knew tennis didn't have the best payment structure but I didn't know it was this bad. Thank you Vox for bringing this to light

[jaredvaughan]

I support Djokovic's efforts to create a player's union.

[monsieur]

Taylor Townsend is a really good player. She has 63% win rate in singles and 72% in doubles and she appeared in 2 grandslam doubles finals. Still if someone like her can't make enough out of the game, it's fair to assume that Tennis as a sport is RESERVED for the rich.

[radityarian]

On a side note though, this is why Djokovic and some other players decided to establish the PTPA, their main agenda is to address the inequality of the income for the rest of the players.

And it’s cool to see a dozens of top players also joined this initiative, to collectively address the issue

[alimfuzzy]

My uncle was a world champion rower. His crew beat the olympic champions of same year they won the world championship. He didnt make a cent, and lost money, rowing. He worked as a teacher just to get by. He quit rowing because he couldn't afford it any more.

He's doing good now he's a principal making a good living.

[shiftt.]

I appreciate the fact that Novak through the PTPA (players association) is doing his best to push for better financial conditions for players. It's better for everyone.

[scpatlnow]

I would love to know what the directors of these tennis organizations make.

[harisselmanovic]

When Djokovic founded the PTPA the idea was to provide collective bargaining power to tennis players. It’s funny how Nadal and Fed didn’t support him. Just tells you the level of privilege they possess and lack of care for those underprivileged. Their PR can say whatever they want but this was their chance to make a real historic difference in tennis and Fedal sided with the tournaments.

Hopefully the PTPA continues to grow and the young players have more compassion and join the movement right away!

[lavaregion]

This is sad since Tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world. While the top players are extremely rich, the bottom ones are struggling to live.

[TheCivilizedSavage]

They are forgetting the fact that those other sports (NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB) have a Collective Bargaining Agreement...which is why they get nearly 50% off revenues and have top tier minimum salaries.

[rosePetrichor]

Another aspect that is unique is that you have no idea when you will be travelling; if you get knocked out in the first round of a tournament or get to the semi-final means a difference of a whole week. many players have appearances at smaller challenger tournaments lined up for the second week of grand slams, *just in case* they get knocked out early and need to make some extra money. It's such a stressful way to live.

[brandontaylor]

This is exactly why I had to stop. I turned pro briefly after college but I was only able to secure short term sponsorships..not enough security. That's why turning pro in tennis is really about luck. Sometimes the best players slip through the cracks because they don't have the financial resources.

[tds]

Love that VOX made a video on this topic.

The ATP/WTA has so many interesting obstacles in the way of athletes.

As a former player, investigating corruption within the sport at the professional level interested me while in undergrad so I wrote a paper on the topic.

[ptpaplayers]

A core part of our mission. Thank you for helping shed light on this.

[TheMe]

I feel like this won’t change unless we see players forming a union and striking some tournaments.
I’m also curious to know if golf has the same issue or if they have a different system.

[clintonsmith]

This video really needed to talk about why the 18% of player profit share number isn't higher and what can be done.

[olggg]

Great to see Hubi speaking out about the issue!

[now]

I can’t believe this is not addressed all these years. Even being a 100th player among thousands of good players is a big deal. It takes a lot of practice, dedication, struggle. Hope they compensate these players one way or the other.

[rebekah.fisher]

I think the topic should be 'why most athletes in indiviudal sports stuggle to make a living’. It would yield the same conculsion as to tennis. If anything tennis might be the most 'well off' out of any of the other sports.

[matt]

The most basic tactic by management against workers is divide and conquer. That is why they always oppose unions. So in a sport without teams the job of breaking worker solidarity is already done.