Roger Federer to investigate the ‘Indian Wells prize money increase’ proposal – Tennis News
World number two, Roger Federer, is eager to figure out the reason for not allowing the BNP Paribas Open – Indian Wells officials to increase the prize money by $800,000. Earlier in the week, Association of Tennis Professionals
had a split vote of 3-3 about the proposal put forth by the Indian Wells officials. The decision is stalled and probably not goes in favour of the Indian Wells officials unless they change the distribution pattern of the prize money and make it in line with
the rules and regulations of the Association of Tennis Professionals.
Chief Executive Officer of Association of Tennis Professionals, Brad Drewett, refused or rather abstained from voting and asked the officials to put the increase on hold. It is only the men’s department who is not accepting the
increase, the Women Tennis Association is ecstatic to find out that the Indian Wells officials are willing to lower their profits and distribute the money amongst the participants. However, the final decision will be made next month after a thorough analysis
of the proposal. Tournament Chief Executive Officer, Raymond Moore, was amused to find out that the men’s tennis body wasn’t willing to increase the prize money of the tournament and refused their proposal. He stated, “This is a surprise to us. We don’t have
an explanation. We are waiting for the ATP to get back to us.”
The Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, seems concerned about the decision and wants to analyse the situation and investigate in depth about the proposal. He said, “As long as I’m the president of the Player Council, I won’t discuss
with you guys in the media. What I can tell you is I will investigate and make sure that the decision they’ve taken is, indeed, the right one. If it’s not, then obviously we need to talk about it, what we can do in the future.
He further commented, “Maybe some people don’t understand it. It’s important for me to really get all the information so I can also give my opinion and speak to the fellow council members, because, like you mentioned, it’s an important
issue here.”
This year’s Association of Tennis Professional World Tour Final qualifier, Tomas Berdych ranked sixth in the world, clearly wanted to see the raise being incorporated in the total prize money. He was surprised at the decision of
the ATP as well and couldn’t believe that they didn’t accept the proposal at the first sight. If the disparity between the ATP and WTA prize money is witnessed in the next year’s edition of the Indian Wells tournament, it will be a major point of discussion
and might witness some boycotts.
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