Mechanics of the Professional Tennis Grid
Contrary to the popular perception that it is all rosy for the leading guns in the glamorous world of professional tennis, life at the top is in fact more challenging than many would imagine. Of course the games leading men and women frequently collect six figure pay checks and book themselves at elegant hotels as they roam the world on professional tours, the down side is that they barely get to be at home owing to an extremely demanding schedule that affords only a month and a half of break annually.
Much of a professional player’s time is consumed by an endless pursuit of fitness and on-court battles. And of course, there is an element of financial insecurity; the amount of money a player bags is closely linked to on-court performances, which means that a dip in the quality of display will penalize much more than the ego. The supply of sponsorship contracts for a player too is heavily dependent on the incidence of his/her success. A streak of unflattering displays is likely to compromise a contester’s marketability and drive sponsorship money to worthier, more commercially viable candidates.
Yet of course the professional game comes with its fair share of alluring bonuses. A number of contests like the prestigious All England Club Wimbledon tournament often grant players small gifts such as free West End theatre tickets. Other competitions sometimes adorn the leading players with fancy cars or offer treats at extravagant restaurants for the length of the contest. The ATP tournament coordinators have allowed for a clause that provides competitions the opportunity to lure players by offering them “appearance money” in return for their participation in matches. Typically, huge corporations like Octagon, IMG and SFX look after the professional interests of the game’s bigger stars, taking care of equipment, attire and patronage contracts in addition to the collection charges for advertising related projects. Unfortunately, the picture is not so rosy for the games less successful contestants, who, bereft of the publicity reserved for top notch players, are often relegated to low cost residences for the tournament length. Deprived of patronage deals and appearance money, such players often face financial attrition.
The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Tour is the men’s professional tennis circuit. It is the ATP that coordinates the entirety of male tournaments the world over annually. For instance, competitions are held in Brazil, Qatar, Hong Kong, Romania, Uzbekistan, USA, Australia, France, Italy, the UK and a host of other nations. Lower level contestants are afforded the chance to shine in competitions planned at a national level. The prize money varies for different competitions, ranging from awards worth a colossal $500,000 to millions of US dollars of prize money for the sport’s most prestigious events. The Tennis Masters Series is a highly prestigious string of nine crucial tournaments that are scheduled the world over. In addition, ATP Tour affords the games top performing players the opportunity to compete in a tournament that marks the end of the professional tennis year. Notable male tennis veterans include John McEnroe, the bad boy of tennis known for his notorious on-court temperament and the famous “You cannot be serious!” rant, his American compatriot Jimmy Connors, Sweden’s gentlemanly legend Bjorn Borg, Germany’s Boris Becker, and Australians Rod Laver and Roy Emerson and countless others. A number of these players are now involved in the senior tour.
The professional ladies tennis is overseen by the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour. Similar to the ATP Tour, WTA organizes competitions worldwide annually in countries like Germany, the UK, Hawaii, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the US, Belgium, Italy and the United Arab Emirates. Just the men’s game, the WTA Tour organizes tournaments at the national level for lower profile players and the award money fluctuates from event to event. Controversially though, female players earn considerably lesser than males, a situation often justified by the truthful argument that women do not ever play more than three sets, where as the men’s game often stretches to five sets when the game is tight. Multiple title winner Martina Navratilova, her American rival Chris Evert, the infinitely talented German Steffi Graf and Britain’s Sue Barker are just a few of game’s retired big names that come to mind.
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