“We want more they want to pay less”- Roger Federer

Roger Federer, who is currently enjoying a break from tennis having skipped the clay court season, thinks that the there has to be an increase in the prize money for the Grand Slam tournaments. Federer is not the only one who has voiced his opinion on the issue. Novak Djokovic created headlines during the Australian Open when he had a meeting with the rest of the players and asked them to support him in his call to increase the grand slam prize money pool.

“We both need each other”, said Federer. “I was in this discussion five or six years ago for a prize money increase at Grand Slam level. A lot of tournaments are investing heavily and doing a lot. I think for players it’s important to understand the tournaments’ aspects and vice versa.” Federer and Djokovic claim that the slams make far more money than what they give to the players. During his interview in Rotterdam Federer voiced Djokovic’s opinion.

“We don’t have an agreement with Grand Slams for the next hundred years, so it will always be in discussion”, elaborated Federer. “We want more, they want to pay less. That’s why it will always be in discussion, and rightly so. We are on the Tour every week, and they have one week to protect their costs, and they work for 49 weeks a year basically for one event.”

Federer, much like Djokovic, was more concerned about the players outside the top 50 or top 100. He said that the players who are not in the top roster struggle a lot with economical issues, and that it was high time that the slams increased their total prize money. “We make a lot of money especially at the top, but I would love to see more players profiting from prize money increase. Because it’s better already but there is still a long way to go comparing to other sports”.

Federer is expected to be back for the grass court season later in June.