With the tennis tour put on a halt, the lower-ranked tennis players are struggling to support their livelihood. With no tennis action underway, players have no money coming in through the sport. To help those players, Novak Djokovic’s Player Council came up with a donation plan amid coronavirus pandemic. All the top-100 players will be donating some amount to Player Relief Fund. 

However, two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt opposes Djokovic’s idea, since all the players ranked inside the Top-100 rankings cannot afford to donate US $5,000. Also, World Number Three, Dominic Thiem, had opposed the donation scheme too.

“This has been taken out of the proposition. I know Dominic well and he was basically saying ‘well, I have no problem giving money to certain organizations that really need it at the moment,” Hewitt said to World Wide of Sport.

“He had a problem with some of the lesser ranked tennis players. That day in and day out aren’t giving 100% of themselves to the sport to maximize their potential. I look at someone who’s worked extremely hard like James Duckworth,” Hewitt stated.

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Reason to oppose Novak Djokovic’s plan  

World No.83 Duckworth has to donate at least US $5,000 to the Players Relief Fund. But presently, his earnings have dried up since the tour is suspended. His career prize money earnings aggregate to  US $1.6 million, whereas Djokovic has earned $132 million. The Serb will be donating US $30,000 to the Fund.

Currently, Serbian ace Djokovic does have the leverage of sponsorships that provide him some kind of financial aid during these pay-less times. But players like Duckworth are solely reliant on their savings.

“In the last few years, he’s done everything right to give himself the best opportunity to get himself back in the top 100. He’s making no money right now. He’s running at a loss, yet the ATP wants him to potentially donate five or ten thousand dollars to players ranked just outside 100. I don’t think that sits well. I don’t think it’s going to get over the line with a lot of those lesser players,” Hewitt added.

As of now, the tennis tour is suspended until the mid of July but some reports suggest the suspension will continue until the first week of August. 

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