Federer joins calls for bigger Slam money
Swiss says old agreement has run its course
>> MELBOURNE: Roger Federer says it’s time for his fellow professional players to rally and seek greater prize money from the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments.
The 19-time major winner says the current agreement is a good one, but it has run its course and time was right for players to get together and seek pay increases.
Novak Djokovic, as president of the ATP player council, said this week at the Australian Open in Melbourne that “everybody’s trying to do their best” when asked about players getting a bigger slice of the Grand Slam cash pool.
Federer, who has amassed almost $112 million in career prizemoney, supported Djokovic’s push for a bigger percentage of revenue for players.
“We had a good agreement, in my opinion, that made the Grand Slams happy, the players pretty happy. Seems like that has run its course,” he said after beating Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in a second round match late on Thursday.
“The moment that happens, there’s not the same increases any more, so players have to rally, get back together again, put in the effort.
“The Grand Slams know that. They will only react when we do so. We’re ready to do it.”
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley has reportedly outlined plans to boost prize money at the opening Grand Slam of the year from $55 million to $100 million over the next five years. The singles champion this year will get $4 million, but first round losers only receive $60,000.
Federer said going over the same process of having to ask for more was “a bit boring”, but the revenue-sharing model was not quite where it was supposed to be.
“But, look, you can’t go from here to right there in a day. We know that,” he said.
“We just hope they [Slams organisers] realise and they do appreciate us maybe more all the time and not just in waves, you know what I mean?
“But it’s all good. We have good contacts with the Slams. It’s all good. But it’s going to be a never-ending story.”
Federer added that it was good that the players were talking to one another.
“When the players don’t talk, nothing gets done. If the players talk to one another, it’s interesting,” he said.
“It’s not something we can do every day. We don’t have the players in the same room at all times. We can get together in locker rooms, have a quick huddle-up meeting all together.
“But to get organised all ourselves, it’s not always easy because everybody has different schedules.
“We just got to make a conscious effort to get together and talk to one another. I think that’s good, I’m all for that.”
Meanwhile, Federer says he plans to keep the Hopman Cup on his playing schedule leading into the seasonopening Australian Open Grand Slam as it suits his children best.
The Swiss star, who teamed with Belinda Bencic to win the mixed teams event in Perth over the New Year, says he expects to return for the 2019 edition.
“I’ve done all sorts of preparations [for the Australian Open],” 19-time Grand Slam winner Federer said.
“I did preparations with [Australian great] Tony Roche in Sydney, went back to Doha, then came back for Melbourne. That worked. This time I’ve done Perth now twice.
“I feel like having kids later on in my career it feels like Hopman Cup is a really good option for me.”
Federer has two sets of young twins with wife Mirka.