Nimes.- The Norwegian Casper Ruudnumber 6 of the men’s tennis ranking, the players did not receive a sufficient part of the income generated by the four Grand Slam tournaments, the most important of each season.
In the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the United States Open, Prize Money) destined for tennis players “represent 15% of the income” achieved by tournaments, Ruud stressed in Nîmes (France), within the framework of a stage of the UTS, a different circuit than the ATP which tries to rejuvenate the tennis audience.
“As a player, I don’t see that fair,” added the 26 -year -old Norwegian.
“If we compare it with other great sports, the NFL (American football), the MLB (baseball) and the NBA (basketball) are closer to 50% of the income destined for the players,” says this triple runner -up of Grand Slam tournaments (Roland Garros 2022 and 2023, US Open 2022).
Ruud pronounced these words one day after the French sports newspaper L’Equipe revealed the existence of a letter signed by members of the ‘Top 20’ of tennis and addressed to the organizers of the four Grand Slams to request a more generous cast for the players.
Contacted Thursday by the AFP, a source of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) confirmed that the organizers have received “a letter transmitted by a group of players, which has been responded by proposing a direct, open and constructive meeting, either in the Madrid Tournament (April 22-May 4), in Roland Garros (May 25-June 8) or at another time.”
Ruud preferred not to confirm the AFP if she had been a signatory of the letter and preferred “not to enter the details, although there is clearly a possibility that it has been.”
The “dream” of equal parts
In his opinion, “in an equitable world”, the distribution of income between the Grand Slams and the tennis players should be a “50-50%.”
“But I think that will never happen. Although we were able to approach ourselves … Each point of percentage can help,” said the world of world.
