2.25 euros in prize money: "Thanks for the free coffee, ITF"
The current W25 ITF tournament in Prague is endowed with 25,000 US dollars - for the qualifying first-round loser Sara Cakarevic only 2.25 euros remained.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: May 05, 2021, 04:42 pm
Imagine traveling to Prague, playing the first qualifying round of a $ 25,000 prize money tournament there, defeating number 291 in the tennis world, losing as close as possible with 7: 5, 3: 6 and 8:10 - and just take 2 euros home with you ...
A joke? Unfortunately not. That is exactly what happened to the French Sara Cakarevic. The 24-year-old presented her statement on Instagram: 45 euros in income, minus 6.75 euros in taxes, minus 36 euros entry fee ... makes: 2.25 euros in earnings.
"So that's what you get when you lose 8:10 in the third set (match break, editor's note) against number 291 in the world," wrote Cakarevic on Instagram. "And I didn't even get the 25 cents," she added. Followed by one: "Thank you, ITF, for the free coffee."
# IMG2 #
Sara Cakarevic: Only $ 83,906 in earnings in 8 years
Cakarevic is currently listed on rank 410 in the individual, in 2018 she was ranked 304. And it confirms the big topic of recent years: the fight for better prize money for the players who are not among the top 100. Because even if the Grand Slam tournaments have meanwhile also increased their payouts for first round defeats - there were 100,000 Australian dollars at the Australian Open 2021 - tennis remains a hardly worthwhile business for most players in the ranks 200 down - and in case of doubt even a grant deal.
As for Sara Cakarevic: She has been on the ITF tour since 2014 and, according to the official WTA website, earned just 83,906 US dollars. So far this year it has been US $ 2,767.
Cakarevic has won three ITF titles so far, this year she was in the final in Le Havre. She received $ 1,470 for this.