Wimbers fans don’t care about points says Jamie... but for sake of Slam, cutting prize money truly would be RANK ROTTEN
JAMIE MURRAY has claimed Wimbledon would be mad to cut prize money after the Grand Slam was stripped of ranking points.
All England Club chiefs Sally Bolton and Ian Hewitt are scheduled to arrive in Paris today for crisis talks over the issue ripping the sport apart.
The ATP and WTA imposed the points penalty after Wimbledon banned Russian and Belarusian players.
Frenchman Lucas Pouille claimed earlier this week he will not play in SW19 because there will be no points and prize money “will be reduced”.
But seven-time Grand Slam winner Murray said: “I don’t think it makes sense from Wimbledon to reduce their prize money because then they will risk players not turning up to play and that’s when the tournament becomes devalued.
“Of course I’m always going to advocate for a better share of the prize money with singles and doubles. I don’t see that changing any time soon.
“The majority of people that go to Wimbledon are going for a day out at Wimbledon, they’re not necessarily hardcore tennis fans. They’re watching Court Six and not thinking: ‘S***, if this guy wins this match, he’ll get 180 points. Oh my God, this is so exciting’.
“They’re watching tennis, they’re having a good time.
“It’s more within the tennis circles where there are more on it. For your average fan who is watching it on TV or coming to Wimbledon it’s not affecting their enjoyment of the event at all.” Players have expressed their frustration over the lack of consultation over the points penalty. And Murray added: “It’s a bit of a mess. Obviously the wider player group would prefer to play for ranking points. “The Government giving informal guidance is not really helping anyone because they’re putting pressure on Wimbledon to not have Russian and Belarusian athletes there. “Then it gets awkward and that’s why we’re in this situation with ranking point and breaching the agreements and things like that. Unfortunately it’s the players that lose out and are in the middle of it.”