No play No pay: Effect of Pandemic on Indian Tennis players’ pockets
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the most significant disruption to the worldwide sporting calendar since World War II. Across the world and to varying degrees, sports events have been cancelled or postponed. Same has been the case with Tennis, and when you talk about India where Tennis has a considerably lower rank compared to other major sports, Tennis players here have had a really tough time.
Grand Slam vs a regular ATP Tennis event
GBP 8,500 (INR 8.75 lakh) is the prize money that is handed over to the player who loses in the first round of Wimbledon’s qualifiers. Two Indians, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ankita Raina received that pay-check. The third Indian in the qualifiers managed to get to the third round, and for his efforts Ramkumar Ramanathan got GBP 25,500 (over INR 26 lakh).
The fact remains though that apart from these three, and Sumit Nagal who skipped Wimbledon this year, there aren’t any other Indians ranked high enough to compete in the high-prize money singles events — the Grand Slams being the pinnacle.
To put the prize money into perspective, consider that the first round qualifier gets INR 8.75 lakh. James Duckworth, who won the 2019 ATP Challenger in Pune, won USD 7,200 (INR 5.34 lakh) as prize money.
Increased expenses
Connections have decreased. To get to a certain place, back then you’d have 10 different airlines with the same connection, now you have maybe two,” 24-year-old Mukund says, who paid over INR 50,000 to compete at the two Challengers in the US where he earned around INR 1 lakh.
It isn’t just the price of tickets going up that’s causing the issue though.
“The main thing now is you’re not making the same money now. The prices have changed by maybe a few thousands, but now you’re not getting that many tournaments to play in,” Mukund said.
No play, no pay
The higher levels of tennis have faced prize money cuts — Novak Djokovic received a cheque of 1.4 million Euros for winning the French Open this year compared to the 1.6 million Euros Rafael Nadal made last year.
At the lower levels, there hasn’t been a change in prize money, but the reduction in tournaments have made it harder for players to get an entry into the ones that take place in Europe and the Americas.
The regular RT-PCR tests too are an expensive proposition. “I understand the tests are a bit cheaper in India (around INR 1500 to 2000). In Europe it’s around 70 Euros on average (around INR 6200),” says Prajnesh ranked 148.
Travel restrictions for the Indians
A host of Indian tennis players are currently ‘stuck’ in India. “I was trying to go for an event in France (WTA 125, Saint-Malo in May). I would have made the doubles cut and might have gotten into the singles qualifying rounds,” says Rutuja Bhosale, ranked 450, who has been grounded in Pune since the second lockdown started in April.
“The French government was issuing some kind of a waiver for athletes, but a week before I was expected to leave they said they cannot do that for Indians.”
“I want to play more”
Rawat, 28, who has earned a total prize money of USD 72,094 (around INR 53 lakhs) since playing his first ever event in 2011, and just USD 1,476 (almost INR 1.1 lakh) this year, is unsure how long he can pursue the sport.
Since the pandemic started last year, he’s been studying towards the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) — civil services. The examinations were scheduled for June, but have now been postponed to October.
“(If I pass) I’ll have to look at how the tennis is going. If I’m improving or if things aren’t getting better,” Rawat says. “For all my heart, I want tennis to work. I want to play more.”
Not just Tennis players, For athletes in general, the menacing cloud of Covid-19 has increased the cost of travelling. And for players competing in the lower leagues where prize money is not as rewarding, the added costs have become a big headache.
