Montreal TD on Novak Djokovic's hints to back other events for prize money
More and more players are encouraging tournaments to increase prize money, especially in the earlier rounds. There will be more meetings regarding this topic before the US Open. Eugene Lapierre, the tournament director of the Montreal edition of Rogers Cup, speaking to Le Journal de Montreal, said: "I am not really worried about those negotiations. Over the last four years, our prize money increased by 14% every year. We will send our numbers. If there is a growth, we increase the prize money. However, players only look at our income without noticing our expenses. Who can afford to make increments by 14% every year? Novak Djokovic (has) already said that if we were not able to make these increases, he already knew the places where they could do it," Lapierre said referring to Asia and the Middle East. Tournaments are making good profits. For the Rogers Cup, it's around $16 million a year, which get invested in the development of Tennis Canada. "If we keep making increments, our younger players would be affected by it," concluded Lapierre.
On the improvements made by the event, Lapierre added: "Well, we improved the conditions for the players. You might not see that, but we made the gym bigger because the players want to sleep well, to eat well, and to be able to prepare well for the matches. They need to practice. We made the gym bigger. We made sure the food was okay. Food is very important. They have special things for them. They have a special area where they can eat. They can also eat upstairs. Everything was satisfactory there. The semifinalists and the finalists now have a jet for going to Cincinnati because it's not convenient to travel from here to Cincinnati. They lose a whole night. Now they can leave the same evening and go to Cincinnati. This is what we've done for the players."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ORyAPF
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