Underpaid and overplayed: tennis is ripe for disruption
Streamlining the sport’s bloated calendar would be a good place to start
REACHING THE top of tennis will make you very rich. Winners of the men’s and women’s singles at the Australian Open, the first of the four annual grand-slam tournaments, which starts on January 14th, stand to win $2.1m each. Novak Djokovic, the highest-ranked men’s player, earned $16m in prize money across the whole of last year. Iga Swiatek, his female counterpart, won $10m. Go down the rankings, though, and the riches fall away dramatically. Liam Broady, the 100th-best male player, took home $440,000. Zac Blair, the 100th-best golfer, won $2.5m.
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