Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ‘are complicit in the poor quality of the system,’ says ATP player
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been heavily criticized by ATP player Marco Trungelliti, who claims they “never say anything” about wider problems in the tennis system.
Trungelliti spoke in the newspaper La Nacion about the cash prizes offered to the ATP Challenger Circuit, which is the level below the main men’s professional tennis circuit.
The Argentinian aimed Rafael Nadal And Roger Federerwhile renting Novak Djokovic speaking about the subject, “I think it’s essential. People may not like it, but Federer and Nadal never said anything. Like it or not, they are complicit in the poor quality of the system because they couldn’t even once open their mouths and fight for players’ rights.
“If they did it, it was internally, but it didn’t change anything. This year alone, the Challenger prizes have been slightly changed, but they remain embarrassing as we supposedly exit the golden age of tennis history.
No. 236 added: “You can’t be complicit in the fact that 80 to 100 people make a living from tennis. This is what has always bothered me and will continue to bother me. As players they may be very good, but as humans trying to improve the system in general they seem very poor to me. This is also what Djokovic and (Vasek) Pospisil are doing today. Additionally, all this work at the PTPA takes time and energy.
Nadal, Federer and Djokovic were all part of the ATP Player Council, a group of elected players meant to act as a voice for the rest of the tour.
However, 24-time major winner Djokovic left the board in 2019 to form his own organization known as PTPA (Professional Tennis Players Association).
The Serbian formed the PTPA alongside Canadian Vasek Pospisil, as an association of men’s and women’s tennis players who represent singles players in the top 500 and doubles players in the ATP top 200 and WTA rankings.
ATP Challenger Tour prize money has actually improved over the past year, having increased by 60%, from $13.2 million to $21.1 million since September 2022.
This is not the first time Trungelliti has spoken out on wider tennis issues, having revealed he was approached by match-fixers in 2015, leading to three of his players being sanctioned. fellow Argentines (Federico Coria, Nicholas Nicker and Patricio Heras). .
Trungelliti returns to his home country for the first time in five years to compete in an ATP Challenger event in Buenos Aires, revealing he fears for his safety since the match-fixing scandal came to light.
“I didn’t come back and play only in Europe, which also didn’t guarantee me absolute security,” Trungelliti said. “Maybe in Andorra yes because everything is smaller. But there were places, even in Europe, where I didn’t go. I played everything in Spain and Italy. I have only been to Banja Luka once.
The 33-year-old continued: “Something that happened to me, linked to depression, was that at the end of the tournament I wanted to go home as quickly as possible, which was the only place where I felt safe.
“Today we returned to the country (Argentina) because I also want my son to meet his grandparents and my grandmother. Afterwards, I might play here, I feel bad and I don’t want to come back, but that’s another thing.
Trungelliti got off to a good start on his return to his home capital, having won his first qualifying match and will look to confirm his qualification against Gastao Elias later today.
Inside the baseline…
While Trungelliti’s concerns may be valid, it seems a bit unfair to single out Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the ATP Challenger Tour’s prize money. When it came to match-fixing, it was commendable of the Argentine to expose what was happening behind the scenes, even though he knew it could have a negative effect on his life. Hopefully Trungelliti and everyone else involved can move forward in a more positive way.
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