Many of the people in the top 100
are barely breaking even, sometimes in the red.
If you're not playing at Grand Slams consistently
and doing well... you are struggling.
When I grew up, I always watched tennis.
So watching Williams sisters and everything
my sister and I, we grew up playing together
and so I always wanted to be like Venus and Serena.
So I come from Poland, which is not a huge tennis culture.
I would say my mom used to play tennis
and that's how I started when I wanted to...
become one of the best players in the world.
I was the first number one junior in 37 years, female.
And kind of all my dreams started coming true.
The perception versus the reality
like tennis does look very glam and it looks so polished.
The highest paid this, and these big purses
and these big prize money tournaments...
you really don't see the struggle.
That was something that...
I didn't really understand until I got to that level.
And then once I got to the top 100...
then my ranking fell to 400.
And then that was the time when I had to go back
to playing like the really low level events.
And I didn't know how I was going to pay my bills.
I told my coach like there were times like...
“Hey, I can’t pay you.”
or “I can’t pay for training this week.”
or “Can you pay for your flight?”
And then, “Yo, I got you.”
When we get to the slam and like
when we get to the bigger tournaments.
So the structure of tennis
is pretty unique in the sports landscape.
There's a men's tour: the ATP.
There's a women's tour: the WTA.
There's four Grand Slams, which are each
really independently owned and operated.
There's the International Tennis Federation
which is like the global governing body
that governs things like the Olympics
and some of the more global aspects of tennis.
And you have this really disjointed structure...
When you add it all up, has left not only the players behind
and made it something
that is not anywhere close
to where it should be in relation to other sports.
You’d think the total revenue of tennis could be better.
The percentage that the players are getting, I think that...
that's also some issue.
The tournaments are sharing
about 18% of the revenue with the players.
In many of those other sports, hockey, American football, soccer...
you see a revenue share that is much closer to 50%.
As a player, sometimes it is frustrating because
you know that you're the talent
and you know that you're bringing
this certain level of entertainment
to all of these different places around the world...
and not being compensated for it.
Tennis is a sport where there are no teams.
And so it...
if anything, that revenue share should be higher in tennis...
given the fact that people are coming to see
Player A play against Player B.
Carlos Alcaraz made the most money on either the men’s tour
or the women's tour last year, about $10 Million.
Who is, by the way, a generational talent...
who won an incredible amount of matches last year.
And let’s asterisk that for a second because that's gross.
That's before he pays his own travel, his coaches...
his physios, all the expenses that tennis players bear alone.
That no athlete in a team sport
or other sports, like F1, have to bear.
And if you look at $10 million...
how that translates in basketball, that's roughly
the 150th highest paid player in the NBA.
And then you look at football, American football
that’s 202nd highest salary.
In baseball, it’s a similar story
where it's in the hundreds...
out of a 6-700 player community at the major league level.
That graphic is like tattooed in my head
because it's astonishing to me.
There are a lot more players
that are struggling than the ones that aren't.
A good friend of mine, Dustin Brown, a very, very good player.
He literally was living out of his car.
He was stringing rackets
for the players at the tournament to make money.
And sometimes the amount that he was making to string rackets
was more than he made in his prize money.
And he beat Nadal at Wimbledon.
Like, played one of the most epic matches.
“Game set and that’s Brown.”
And the pressure always gets spun around and put onto them.
Well, if you just won more, you'd be fine.
So what's your problem?
Well, if you weren't in the two hundreds or three hundreds, well, then
you'd have nothing to complain about.
As opposed to...
Hey, wait a second.
In all these other global sports...
if I'm in the two hundreds, three hundreds...
I'm actually well entrenched as a professional athlete.
Why isn't that the case in tennis?
It's one of the only sports where we're not salary base players.
Your pay is based on your performance.
The way those other sports are structured
the players are employees.
And so when you're an employee, you have a minimum salary...
and part of the problem with tennis is that the players, despite...
working 11 and a half months a year...
traveling the globe
are treated as independent contractors.
I guess people who don't have endorsements...
they only make their money from tournaments.
And I don't think that that should be a thing.
I think we should make like salary for the year.
I'm fortunate to have, you know...
a couple of great sponsors.
I’m wearing a watch while I play.
Actually, this watch while I play.
Also, I'm playing with a Yonex racket, a Yonex outfit
and having a patch on my sleeve for Easy Post.
I'm sponsored by ASICS at the moment.
They send you a package of clothes
to wear at different tournaments.
That's based on your ranking and also your profile as a player.
And if you're 200 in the world, maybe...
you know, maybe there's a local company from your country
that wants to help you, wants to support you.
But if you're outside of top 50...
you will have a clothing, the other you will have a racket deal.
But it would be touch to have a real source
of income outside of a tennis court.
And in my particular situation, I don't have any sponsors.
So, like all of my expenses come out of my prize money.
Traveling with a couple of people around the world.
You know, you fly always last minute
and you sleep in the hotels
you eat in restaurants.
Those expenses are really, really significant.
Maybe a coach a year is around $75,000 without expenses.
So for hotel, flights
all that, it could add up.
There's so much emphasis on the Grand Slams
because these four times a year, only four...
are where you get basically the biggest payout.
When you're at the lower rankings
or you're trying to break through.
Like you kind of have to go everywhere
because you need to get points, you need to get money.
Points are literally everything.
I mean, that's how our rankings are determined.
And every tournament has a certain point value...
and every round has a certain point value.
So at the Grand Slams is where you can make the most points.
And the lower level tournaments like the 250s
or even like challenger...
the lower you drop down, the less point
opportunities that you have to make.
So it's just back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
Often times the expenses outweigh the pay.
The sport hasn't kept pace with other sports.
The players and what they generate from an income standpoint...
hasn't kept pace.
The protections are non-existent.
There's no safety net. There's no minimum.
Because what happens if you get hurt?
What happens if you want to take a break?
What happens if you want to have a child?
There's no mechanism for that...
other than putting 100% of that burden on the player.
Fortunately, my parents were able
to help me a lot in my career
and I'm really thankful to them.
If you don't have support, it's really challenging.
The risk...
is that we can...
miss out on really unique
and amazing talents and people who are very, very good...
because they can't afford to play.
Players like Ons Jabeur...
she didn't have those opportunities growing up in Tunisia.
Frances Tiafoe.
I mean, those are players who made it...
despite those challenges, made it.
What about all the other players that didn't?
I'm trying to identify and really get clear on like...
how can I make the biggest difference?
I feel like if I don't do that or if I don't try, like...
I'm wasting...
all the things that I've been through
and the lessons that I learn.
Like I want to pass that on to as many people as I can.
And if I can shape a next generational talent...
I will love that.