Financial Struggles of Pursuing a Professional Tennis Career

Pursuing a professional career in tennis is no easy feat, but financing it can be just as tough. Players must cover the costs of coaching, travel to tournaments, hospitality, equipment and much more. For those who are ranked outside the top 100 and playing in the challenger and future events, there is an evident divide in earnings from the players at the top.

Although though these tournaments are considered the minor leagues, they prove to be the developing grounds for players who will be making impressions at the very top levels of the tour in the next 1 to 3 years. There are very few who can bypass these essential levels and instantly start a flourishing career in the grand slams; Federer has a challenger title, Murray has two and Djokovic has three.

The prize money has not changed on the ITF Futures tour since 1998 when the tour was restructured. This does not correspond to the 53% increase in the general cost of living since then. It is rare for the winner of a Futures tournament to receive more than £1,000 in prize money. Moreover, those who lose in the earlier rounds are barely capable of covering their expenses of the week and often are losing money. This puts an incredible strain on those players to succeed.

Typically most players on the futures circuits are fortunate enough to have clothes and racket sponsorships which reduces a portion of the cost. However, with tougher funding regimes for players in the UK from the LTA, there is little financial support to cover the costs of travel. Michael Russell, an American tennis player who has maintained a world ranking around the top 100 estimated that it cost him roughly $75,000 (£45,000) for one year of playing on the tour. This figure consisted of $35,000 worth of travel costs plus a significant amount swallowed by taxes and even stringing alone resulted in a costly fee per tournament.

Tennis is arguably one of the toughest sports to pursue as a career and make a living out of. Especially when you compare the fact that in the year of 2011, 94 golfers exceeded $1million in prize money compared to the 15 tennis players. PTP aim to support young players in their attempt to fulfill their potential as tennis professionals and any financial support would be greatly appreciated.

By Sophie Nelson