The question of how many tennis players should earn a living as professionals on the ATP or the ATP Challenger Tour has been a concern of many officials even before Andrea Gaudenzi. Gaudenzi, however, recently made it clear in an interview that he does not believe that players who only contest Challenger can make a living from it in the long run. Rather, the Italian compared the Challenger Tour with the university where you learn for the right job on the ATP Tour.

“I don't think it will ever be possible to have a self-sustaining tour at this level (the Challenger Tour, editor's note), simply because of the interest in it among the fans and the commitment of sponsors and TV -Stations are missing, and because there is too little income from ticket sales. ”In fact, the Challenger tournaments are usually only streamed - with a single camera setting.

Tennis like Formula 1?

However, the assessment of the ATP boss did not meet with approval from some players and officials. Tennys Sandgren demanded, once again, that Gaudenzi be replaced. In the specific case, because these statements have a devastating external impact. Noah Rubin suggested, ironically, to do the same as Formula 1: a closed society of 20 players who play everything among themselves. If that helped tennis ...

Paul McNamee, former Australian double great on the ATP tour and now tournament director at the Australian Open, could not do anything with Gaudenzi's analysis. The comments are extremely disrespectful to players who have no other choice. "Maybe he's too busy converting all 1000s into two-week events, which would reduce the number of tournaments even further," McNamee raged on social media.