Australia’s John Millman has questioned a multimillion-dollar plan floated by Novak Djokovic to help struggling tennis players during the COVID-19 shutdown, asking why it had not been done before.
Novak Djokovic on Saturday said that the “Big Three” — himself, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — were organizing aid for lower-ranked players who have no income while the sport is suspended because of the pandemic.
“The majority of the players who are ranked between 200, 250 in the world, and the 700th or 1,000th do not have federation support, do not have sponsors. They are completely independent and left alone,” Djokovic said in an Instagram chat with friend and rival Stan Wawrinka. “Guys who are ranked between 200-250, especially to 700 ... are thinking of leaving tennis right now.”
World No. 43 Millman said that lower-ranked players should have been paid better in the past.
“If the concern is to help players ranked 250-700 in the world why has it taken a global pandemic to realise this?” Millman wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Surely over the many years of top end heavy prizemoney increases we maybe should have maybe distributed the spread a little more...”
Brisbane-based Millman, Australia’s No. 3, said that the “unfairness of the lower tours” meant he had always been “uncomfortable” with the top-end heavy sport.
“[I’ve] often referenced the struggle … because I’ve properly lived through the lower levels,” he wrote.
Djokovic said that the players, the ATP and the four Grand Slams “would all get together and will contribute to a player relief fund that ATP will distribute.”
He estimated that between US$3 million and US$4.5 million could be distributed through the scheme.
Although Shohei Ohtani’s first trip to the Major League Baseball (MLB) World Series is a global sports event, it is particularly big in Japan. Fans from Ohtani’s home nation bought more World Series tickets for the first two games than from anywhere outside North America, ticket broker StubHub said. Dodger Stadium was packed to the rafters on Friday night for the start of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ showdown with the New York Yankees. “Ohtani’s first season with the Dodgers drew big international appeal, especially from his home country of Japan,” StubHub spokesperson Adam Budelli said. “At the beginning of the season, buyers from
The Major League Baseball World Series trophy is headed to Los Angeles, but the party is extending all the way to Japan. People milled around local train stations yesterday morning in Tokyo as newspaper extras were ready to roll off the presses, proclaiming Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto as world champions along with their Dodgers teammates after a stirring Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees. The 30-year-old is a national hero in Japan whose face adorns billboards and TV adverts all over the country. Ohtani this year became the first player in history to hit 50 home runs and
STAR IN DOUBT: After partially dislocating his shoulder in a feetfirst slide into second base, the status of Japanese slugger Ohtani is uncertain for Game 3 as he undergoes tests Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Saturday walked back to his dugout and made the slightest tip of his cap to cheering fans. He left Japan for moments like this, an opportunity to put the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the World Series. Yamamoto allowed one hit over 6-1/3 innings and Freddie Freeman homered for the second straight night as Los Angeles beat the New York Yankees 4-2 for a 2-0 Series lead. However, the Dodgers head to New York uncertain whether Shohei Ohtani can play after their biggest star partially dislocated his left shoulder on a slide at second base. “We’re going to get
Three-time reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto on Saturday led a Japanese podium sweep at Skate Canada, locking up a second straight Canadian women’s title despite two falls in her free skate. Sakamoto, who led 19-year-old American Alysa Liu after the short program, looked a little tight during her jazzy free skate, falling on a Salchow jump and again on a triple flip while fighting to hang on to a few other moves. Her second-best free skate score of 126.24 was enough for gold in the second Grand Prix event of the season in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She finished with 201.21 points, well ahead