Thursday, March 18, 2021. 12:33 PM
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, 12th in the world, estimated Thursday that ATP tour packages will multiply this season due to low tournament bonuses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am sure there will be a lot of forfeits and a lot of players who will give up tournaments because the stock market is too low,” Shapovalov said after qualifying for the semi-finals at the ATP 250 in Dubai.
“It’s not motivating to play every week and every tournament,” said the 21-year-old.
Deprived of their ticketing and event revenues due to health restrictions, tournament organizers have significantly reduced their endowments.
Thus, in Dubai, the winner this year will receive $ 149,490 while Novak Djokovic received $ 565,705 for his title last year.
And the Masters 1000 (category just lower than the Majors) in Miami which starts next week has recorded the forfeits of several headliners: Rafael Nadal (3rd in the world), Dominic Thiem (4th) or Roger Federer (6th), Stan Wawrinka (21st) and Nick Kyrgios (50th). The tournament’s endowment, one of the first to be canceled last year due to the pandemic, has fallen from $ 16.7 million in 2019 to $ 6.68 million this year.
“I hope the ATP or someone will find a way to improve the scholarships to bring them back to their level (before the pandemic), but it is like that for the moment”, added the player of 21 years old.
According to him, many players are forcing themselves to undergo the more or less heavy health constraints imposed by the organizers because of contracts and sponsors which oblige them to play.
“Without that, I feel like a lot of players wouldn’t play at all,” he added.
Shapovalov said that he was personally bound by contractual obligations to play, but that he would nevertheless reduce the number of his tournaments this season because he did not want to spend the year confined to a room. hotel because of the sanitary bubbles.
On March 3, the ATP announced that it would help the organizers of the ATP 250 and 500 tournaments scheduled between the Australian Open (which ended on February 21) and Wimbledon (June 28-July 11).
–
