Sports have long captivated audiences worldwide, serving as a source of entertainment and a thriving economic powerhouse. Talking about the economy, well, tennis is regarded as one of the richest sports in the world. It has long been associated with wealth and privilege, a reputation that dates back to its origin as a pastime for European aristocracy in the 19th century. Over the years, we’ve seen a massive transition featuring this beautiful racquet. The masses widely accepted some of them, while others got a fair bit of backlash. Talking about facing backlashes, recently Aussie star Nick Kyrgios sought help from PTPA after seeing a horrendous stat about tennis!

According to a stat posted on Pubity Sport’s IG page, “At just 17.5%, tennis players receive the smallest share of total revenue of the sport, compared to all other major sports.” Just for comparison, Premier League (soccer) players receive a whopping 61%, represented by the high weekly salaries. Nick Kyrgios recently shared this post on his IG story with the caption, “ONLY SPORT THAT ARENT EMPLOYEES. PLEASE HELP. @ptpaplayers” Why did he seek help from PTPA, though?

Well, to know that, let’s understand what the PTPA is. Novak Djokovic and the Canadian tennis player, Vasek Pospisil, co-founded the PTPA in 2021. Its core mission revolves around amplifying player voices, advocating for player health and well-being, and establishing both on and off-court opportunities that foster an equitable and sustainable competitive tennis environment. The second tenet of the PTPA Principles focuses mainly on obtaining players’ fair share of the business of tennis and terms of participation through seven main avenues.

According to Principle 2a: Shared Success, tennis players have the right to share fairly in the economic activity and wealth of tennis, which players have helped generate, underpinned by fair and just pay and work conditions. Even though in tennis, players are at the epicenter of the sport, they receive only 17.5% of its revenues in prize money. According to PTPA, all players should have their fair share of wealth they help generate for the sport. Is it the first time that we’ve seen Nick Kyrgios bringing up this topic?

Perhaps not! In December 2023, Nick Kyrgios reiterated Novak Djokovic-led PTPA’s claim that the governing bodies of tennis distribute a low percentage of their income to the players. Even that time, he had shared a similar infographic with his IG story and wrote, “Lol not acceptable in the captions.”

Do you know that Novak Djokovic was among the first top players in the modern era to call for an increase in prize money in 2018? He beckoned his colleagues at that time to fight for a more equitable share of the annual revenue. Djokovic also highlighted that the players in the NBA and NFL were better incentivized than the tennis players. Did finding the solution to this common problem lead Nick Kyrios to join hands with Novak Djokovic’s PTPA?

What was the real motivation behind Nick Kyrgios joining hands with PTPA?

In June 2023, Nick Kyrgios announced his official membership in the PTPA. He also expressed his enthusiasm for joining the PTPA and described it as an “amazing initiative.” He even invited fellow players, encouraging them to reach out with questions about the organization. What was his primary motivation for joining PTPA though? Well, one of his specific objectives with the PTPA is to support lower-ranked players who often face financial challenges and limited opportunities.

What led to top players like Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka joining Novak Djokovic’s rebel organization? Well, according to a prominent tennis age, Stuart Duguid, “Those two (Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios) always look to the NBA to kind of see what they’re doing, like not just on the court, but also off the court…And I think for Naomi and Nick, the incentive is really to give back. I think they want to make a difference for masses and for players further down the rankings that perhaps need support more than the others.”

When Kyrgios made this announcement to join the PTPA, what was Novak Djokovic’s reaction? Well, the Serb shared Kyrgios’ post on the same on his IG handle and thanked him for joining hands with the association in working for the betterment of tennis players. What are your thoughts on the horrendous statistic featuring the share of total revenue in the racquet sport?