Pro Tennis Players Struggle to Make a Living - Here's Why!

Unless you’re a top-ranked or high profile tennis player like Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Serena Williams, and Naomi Osaka — it’s nearly impossible to make a living with income from tennis alone. So why is it so hard for professional tennis players to make a living than in almost any other sport?

Vox spoke to with Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of the Professional Tennis Players Association as well as pro tennis players Hubert Hurkacz, Taylor Townsend (USA) and Alycia Parks (USA) to talk about the hot topic.

“Many of the people in the top 100 are barely breaking even, sometimes in the red.” Taylor shared. “As a player, sometimes it is frustrating because you know that you’re the talent and you know that you’re bringing this certain level of entertainment to all of these different places around the world and not being compensated for it.”

She even shared a very concerning story: “A good friend of mine, Dustin Brown, a very, very good player. He literally was living out of his car. He was stringing rackets for the players at the tournament to make money. And sometimes the amount that he was making to string rackets was more than he made in his prize money. And he beat [Rafael] Nadal at Wimbledon. Like, played one of the most epic matches.”

“If you’re not playing at Grand Slams consistently and doing well, you are struggling,” Ahmad added.

Watch the full video below on why there’s such a huge pay disparity when compared with other global sports!

Click inside for more videos on the tennis pay disparity…

Watch the videos below from American-born Czech tennis player Gabriela Knutson, who talks to fellow players about their annual spendings and earnings —

@gabriknutson Male Tennis Players’ Spendings and Earnings 💰🎾💪🏻 Part 2 of my #money series on the #tennistour! With everyone focused on Wimbledon, I wanted to highlight the players that are climbing their way up to reach Grand Slams. These are their financial situations so far this year. 👏🏻 #tennis #tennisplayer #tenniscourt #tennislove #tennislife #tennisfan #tennismatch #tennisworld #tennistraining #tenniscoach #tennisplayers #tennisvideo #tennisfun #tennisislife #tennislife #tenis #tenisfeminino #tennisaddict #tennispro #tennispros #femaleathlete #womenstennis #wta #itf #tennisfans #tennisnews #tennismatch #tennistour #fyp #foryoupage ♬ original sound – Gabriela Knutson

@gabriknutson Lets raise awareness about #money on the professional tennis tour. The high-level tour is known for its lucrative cash prizes, but how much of that actually trickles down into the lower players’ pockets. I chatted with players on the #ITF tour to get some insight into their tennis monetary #wins and #losses. Part 1: Female ITF Tour Edition #tennis #tennisplayer #tenniscourt #tennislove #tennislife #tennisfan #tennismatch #tennisworld #tennistraining #tenniscoach #tennisplayers #tennisvideo #tennisfun #tennisislife #tennislife #tenis #tenisfeminino #tennisaddict #tennispro #tennispros #femaleathlete #womenstennis #wta #itf #tennisfans #tennisnews #tennismatch #tennistour ♬ original sound – Gabriela Knutson

@gabriknutson How much female tennis players have EARNED and SPENT so far this year … PART ✌🏻 Money Series: Edition #3 💰💸💵💷 #tennis #tennisplayer #tenniscourt #tennislove #tennislife #tennisfan #tennismatch #tennisworld #tennistraining #tenniscoach #tennisplayers #tennisvideo #tennisfun #tennisislife #tennislife #tennismatch #tennistour ♬ original sound – Gabriela Knutson