Millman blames tours for pay woes

JOHN Millman has defended Dominic Thiem after the world No.3 refused to help fund lower-ranked tennis players struggling during the coronavirus shutdown.

Respected Australian veteran Millman says it should not be up to top-ranked players to “prop up the tour”, instead pointing the finger at governing bodies ATP, WTA and ITF for not addressing pay disparity concerns.

Australian Open finalist Thiem — who has more than $37 million in career earnings — copped criticism for saying he had no interest in contributing to a proposed relief fund for lower-ranked players, saying “none of them are going to starve” and he’d rather give to people or organisations that really needed it.

World No.1 Novak Djokovic — who is also the ATP Player Council president — has asked players to add to a fund to help lower-tier battlers during the shutdown, which looks set to continue until at least early August. Under the proposal, the top five players would donate about $47,000 each, while those between 50 and 100 would give up almost $8000.

While world No.43 Millman believes Thiem’s comments were “misconstrued”, he didn’t think it should be the Austrian ace’s responsibility to help finance struggling players.

“Look, players outside 100 are struggling all year round whether there is coronavirus or not,” Millman said.

“I don’t think it should come down for someone like Dominic to prop up the tour.

“It should be managed better by the ATP, the WTA and the ITF. There should have been a bigger effort earlier on for these organisations to have made it a priority to grow the game and help people make money from the game.”

Millman said it was a shame that it took a pandemic — which shut down the sport in March — to spur discussion on tennis’ pay fairness concerns.

Asked if he believed the debate would lead to a better distribution of prizemoney at tournaments, Millman said he wouldn’t be holding his breath.