Novak Djokovic has said that he, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are organising aid for players struggling with the paralysis of the game due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I spoke to Roger and Rafa a few days ago,” Djokovic, the world number one, said in an Instagram chat with friend and rival Stan Wawrinka on Saturday.
“We had a long conversation about the near future of tennis, what is going to happen, how we can contribute and how we can help especially lower-ranked players, who are obviously struggling the most.”
“The majority of the players who are ranked between 200, 250 in the world, and the 700th or 1,000th do not have federation support, do not have sponsors. They are completely independent and left alone,” he said “Guys who are ranked between 200-250, especially to 700…are thinking of leaving tennis right now.”
He said players, the ATP and the four Grand Slams “would all get together and will contribute to a player relief fund that ATP will distribute.” “It looks, hopefully, that there will something between 3 million (2.75 million euros) and 4.5 million that is going to be distributed,” he estimated.
Djokovic said the cash could come from the prize money for the season-ending World Tour Finals or the final bonus pools for top players.
