Wawrinka slams tennis tour: ‘What is given back to the players is ridiculous’

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Stan Wawrinka is increasingly becoming the mouthpiece of the tennis tour. During the Swiss Indoors at the end of October, 38-year-old Romand explained that he wanted to “make the best use of” the position he had earned. The three-time Grand Slam winner names the problems in professional tennis and speaks out against excessively long, TV and money-related night sessions. Or to detox your busy annual calendar.

Wawrinka says that the conflict between the interests of the players and the economic intentions of the associations and organizers is increasing. He now says in an interview with “L’Équipe”: “The real problem today is the Grand Slams.”

“Until the players say ‘stop’”

According to him, the organizing associations do not give enough back to tennis, compared to the high income. In concrete terms: just over ten percent of about 500 million euros. “The percentage given back to the players is ridiculous. “It has hardly increased,” says the currently oldest player in the top 100 of the world rankings.

The four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open) have “way too much power” and only look out for themselves. He thinks: “Even the Grand Slams are not untouchable.” Wawrinka is convinced that all players in the tennis world should sit at the table to discuss concrete plans: “Everyone wants everything, without giving anything. We’re stuck – until the players say ‘stop’.”

He does not even want to rule out a revolution like the one that took place in the Gulf after the accession of Saudi Arabia and a competitive league format (LIV): “We are not there yet. But if the Grand Slams don’t realize that they have to work in the interest of tennis, if they don’t understand that, then something can certainly happen.”

“They need to understand that they are not alone.”

Wawrinka emphasizes that he does not want to rewrite the history and tradition of the sport, but rather wants to wake up the organizers: “They must understand that they are not alone.” It bothers him that there are still tournaments with poor infrastructure: “I sometimes have to train at nine degrees.” A gym was also occasionally missing. The veteran has no sympathy for events that complain that they have too little money for player services, but at the same time invest a lot in improving VIP services because they in turn earn more from it: “That raises questions.”

Wawrinka believes that the Professional Tennis Players Association PTPA, founded by Novak Djokovic (36), among others, has not done enough: “We don’t need a players’ union, we need players at the decision-making tables.”

Source : Blick