Reilly Opelka - "ATP officials shouldn't earn more than Roger Federer"
Reilly Opelka , number 39 third-best American in the ATP world rankings, made some strong announcements in an interview with "Racket Magazine".
by tennisnet.com
last edit: May 16, 2020, 07:45 am
Last weekend, Opelka won a mini-tournament with Miomir Kecmanovic, Tommy Paul and Hubert Hurkacz, in front of empty ranks and in the Fast Four format. A premiere for Opelka, whose impact in shorter sentences should theoretically be an advantage. In conversation with "Racket Magazine", the 22-year-old now handed out just as powerfully as with the racket.
Reilly Opelka on ...
... the presentation of ATP during the recent weeks ...
The ATP? I don't think they could have handled the whole thing worse. We are completely in the dark, we don't know what's going on. And the officials have not accepted any cuts in wages. As a matter of fact, the WTA officials take less money, the WTA players have received the prize money for the first round in Indian Wells. I rented a really expensive house there for two weeks. I'm far in the red. I don't think it looks good if ATP officials earn more than Roger Federer won in prize money this year.
... the planned fund to support players ...
Basically, players should never pay for other players. But given the difficulties we are facing, it seems like a necessity. It's like their last chance. So I support the player fund to a certain extent. I think there are enough guys who are around 115 who pay for a coach and a physio who try to do everything right, extremely professional. It hits them hardest. I don't mean disrespectful at all, but players who are classified less than 500 still save money during this time. In my view, our priority should be to protect players between 100 and 400. I do not think that as an ATP official you should not make any wage cuts on yourself and at the same time ask players to support other players.
... the biggest problems of tennis ...
There is a lot. Our TV rights are completely mixed up. Another thing is that we players have no freedom. The ATP punishes me every time I drink a Red Bull on the court. I always drank Red Bull on the pitch. They punish you for everything. The logos on our shirts can only be of a certain size. And her argument is: "Oh, tennis is a sport for gentlemen." But let's have a look at the PGA. Golf is much more a gentleman's sport than tennis. And their players now look like NASCAR drivers.