The demand for increased prize money has been a hot topic of discussion for quite a while in the tennis world. Speaking about this in January 2025, Novak Djokovic said, “If you look at the percentage that players get from the overall revenue of the sport, it is much lower than most other global sports, especially American ones like the NBA, NHL, and NFL.” Is this inequality the biggest unforced error in tennis? A few months after that, the Top 20 men’s and women’s players signed a letter that was later sent to the four Grand Slams asking for more prize money. So, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding this issue in the tennis world, and amid all this, an American tennis legend, Chris Evert, recently dropped an interesting reality check from her golden era. What’s it?

Talking about the ongoing issue and the letter sent to the officials of the four major events, America’s Emma Navarro cited “unfair pay ratios” as the main reason for putting her name to the letter. The Olympic champion, Qinwen Zheng, believes this move will “benefit all the players,” while the world number one claimed, “We deserve to get a bigger percentage.”

Seeing all these, former tennis player Andrea Petkovic highlighted a different perspective surrounding the demand for increased prize money. She said, “The increased prize money has a downside, unfortunately. While at the beginning of my career, we still shared coaches and traveled in packs with other players, sleeping three in the room to save money, stealing ham and cheese from breakfast buffets, and forming friendships for life, the increasing team sizes have also increased loneliness on tour. People you pay are not your friends. I repeat: People you pay are not your friends…“

Highlighting this bold statement from the German legend, renowned tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg retweeted it with the caption, “Players should read and heed this paragraph by @andreapetkovic today:” After seeing his tweet, Chris Evert then stepped in saying, “Totally agree… My closest friends are my opponents in the 70’s and 80’s…We practiced and hung out together…❤️“

Is tennis the loneliest and most emotionally challenging sport? Well, according to the renowned sports psychologist Katie Mobed, “Tennis is mental torture.” She says, “When you’re in that cauldron of pressure, you’re on your own, there’s no teammate to get some support from. You’re under the judgment of the world’s media and fans, and everyone wants their player to win.” 

Although Chris Evert found friends in her opponents, several tennis players, including Novak Djokovic believed, “We are not friends because, you know, we’re rivals and it’s difficult as competitors to be very close and kind of share and give insights to you know, to your life or to how you feel because, you know, it could be used against you.” (on his relationship with his biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal).

Is it the first time that we’ve seen Chris Evert taking a look back at her older times, after hearing the buzz that has been mongering in the tennis world? Just a few weeks ago, she was seen sharing some insightful details about the doping test scenarios from her days on the Tour. What did she say?

ITIA’s new set of rules draws reaction from tennis legend Chris Evert

The high-profile doping cases involving Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek created a lot of buzz around the tennis world last year. Seeing this increased number of cases, ITIA came up with a new set of rules through a statement that claimed that “showering is not an entitlement,” and the players are now requested to stay in full view of the chaperone while taking a shower. It also strictly mentioned that any failure to do so “will be taken extremely seriously.”

After seeing this statement from the ITIA, Ben Rothenberg highlighted it and called it “extraordinary.” Later on, Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs re-tweeted that with a caption saying, “We always have had to shower with the door open. The drug testing people were with us every minute from the moment we walked off the court, including watching us shower. I don’t know what they’re putting this out now.”

She claimed this rule is not new to the tennis world. Seeing her post, Chris Evert chimed in by giving her a nod. She backed Stubbs’ statement by claiming, “Firstly, yes, they had drug testing the last year I played 😂, in which I went right off the court to the ladies’ room with my cup…shower was after…” 

Be it prize money, lack of friends in the team, or a new set of rules implemented by the ITIA to curb the doping cases, Tennis legends have shared their thoughts on all these things. What are your views on these statements, though?