Djokovic rips into tennis bosses again as US Open champ outlines legacy goal

Novak Djokovic has slammed the “failure” that has led to hundreds of tennis players being unable to make a living from the sport. The world No 1 has always been vocal about helping lower-ranked stars, previously calling on tennis bosses to give them more prize money and better financial security. And Djokovic admitted that he wanted to leave a legacy as someone who was fighting for everyone in the sport.

Djokovic has long been involved in the behind-the-scenes of tennis, originally taking a position as president of the ATP Player Council. In 2020, he resigned and co-founded the Professional Tennis Players’ Association with fellow pro Vasek Pospisil to continue his quest to create a “better ecosystem” for lower-ranked players.

The 36-year-old’s fight is even more significant as he explained that he knew what it was like to struggle financially in the sport. “I was in their shoes, I understand the struggle,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion told ESPN.

“I understand the difficulties of paying the costs for travel if you don’t have the backing of a strong federation, which 90 per cent or even more of the players around the world don’t have, and not having the budget to pay for coaches and physiotherapists. Coming from Serbia, I didn’t have any of that.”

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Djokovic believes that there is still a lot of work to be done as he ripped into tennis bosses for making it so tough for players to earn a living. He continued: “And now I have influence, I have power, and I want to fight for better conditions.

“We talk so much about how much money the US Open winners make but we are not talking about how many players, both men and women, singles, doubles, all together, professionals live from this sport.

“It’s less than 400 [players] max for a sport that is super global and then it’s one of the most-watched sports on the planet. That’s poor. That’s a failure for our sport.” Djokovic was one of those winners at the US Open picking up a £2.5 million ($3 million) cheque, making history by winning an Open Era record 24th Grand Slam title.

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But he also wanted to be remembered for his work off the court, adding: “I want to leave a legacy on and off the court. I would love my peers, my colleagues, to remember me as someone who had a lot of success in tennis, but didn’t only think about himself, but also thought of other players and making sure that while he’s at the top of the game, that he’s using his influence, he’s using his status and his profile and his contacts to create a better ecosystem for players and generally just for the sport.”

Djokovic has already created a reputation for himself when it comes to giving players a voice. He was previously accused of making an extraordinary threat of boycotting the 2019 Australian Open in a players’ council meeting unless prize money was increased.

And his efforts have already paid off, as the ATP recently introduced ‘Baseline’, a new system that involves giving a minimum wage and injury pay to players inside the world’s top 250.

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