Rafael Nadal: 'You are forced to think about the one who are worse than you'

Novak Djokovic was the first to take an interest in the fate of second-tier players at this particularly difficult time for tennis. Both circuits have been suspended since last March, when ATP and WTA made the decision to cancel numerous tournaments due to the spread of the Coronavirus emergency. The tour will not resume until at least July 31st and in mid-next week the fate of the August events on American hard court should be known. The support initiative put forward by the World number 1 has attracted a lot of support, even though Dominic Thiem has repeatedly opposed receiving the criticisms of several colleagues and insiders.

Nadal on Novak Djokovic’s plans

World number 2 Rafael Nadal has thrown further backing behind Novak Djokovic’s plans for top tennis players to financially support those lower down the rankings – and not just during a pandemic. “Different measures have been taken, and one of them is to create a fund for the one hundred best players in the world to contribute an amount of money to help the rest of the players, who are having a hard time and are experiencing difficult situations,” the 19 time Grand Slam champion explained. “This fund is to help the world of tennis in general, not just players. In difficult times you are forced to think about the one who are worse than you.” Thiem caused controversy when he spoke out against the proposals in April, and he has refused to back down since. “None of the players are starving. [The top players] all had to fight our way up the rankings,” said Thiem, who has won over $23million in prize money during his career. I’ve seen players on the ITF Tour who don’t 100 percent commit to the sport. Many are quite unprofessional. I don’t see why I should give them money.” Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli understands Thiem’s standpoint of not supporting those players. As they do not really give their best on the tennis courts. “I sort of understanding his point. I think he wanted to say that he knows some of them. Or he knows the behavior of some of them. And for him, they are not behaving the way they should,” she added.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3dxcAkX