Stefanos Sakellaridis (left), 500th in the world, won 4,500 times less than world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the last eight matches they played. And yet they do the same sport.
Imago montage
At the end of the year, it’s time to do the accounts. And that’s good, because it was rich in big wins for the best players in the world, including the world No. 1. A combination of circumstances, or a well-orchestrated schedule, meant that the exhibition tournament “The 6 Kings Slam”, organized in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), preceded the Turin Masters.
Jannik Sinner (23 years old) won these two competitions and filled his pockets. He earned more than 5.3 million francs in Riyadh for three matches. In Turin, for his victory at the Masters without losing a set, the Italian received a check exceeding 4.3 million. Total: more than 9.6 million francs for eight matches, or 1.2 million per match!
The galley slaves of the small tournaments
Although such an amount is exceptional for such a few matches, it is a lot for one man. But Sinner didn’t steal the money. He is currently the best player in the world and the system favors the highest ranked or most “bankable” Tennis players who receive invitations to the biggest tournaments. Stan Wawrinka (ATP 163) is one of them.
It’s a shame for the others, for those who are ranked above 200th in the world and who struggle in second-rate tournaments, looking for points and a handful of dollars.
So here is comparatively what players who have never been part of the top 50 have won at the same time:
ATP 100: the Italian Mattia Belluci (23 years old), who is currently at his best ranking, has won 7629 francs in his last 9 matches.
ATP 500: the Greek Stefano Skellaridis (20 years old), who has already been 392nd in the world, has won 2117 francs for his last 8 meetings.
ATP 999: the Algerian Mohamed Nazim Makhlouf (28 years old), best ranking 988th, pocketed 1007 francs for his last 8 matches.
The Swiss are doing well
Alexander Ritschard (ATP 118, best ranking 99th): the 30-year-old from Zurich earned 25,410 francs for his last 9 matches
Leandro Riedi (ATP 134, best ranking 117th): the 22-year-old from Thurgau has won 92,777 francs in his last 10 matches. Among them are the qualifications for the US Open (33,595 francs) and Wimbledon (44,746 francs), as well as an invitation to Gstaad. When the door to the Grand Slams opens, the bank account suddenly swells.
Jérôme Kym (ATP 135, best ranking 134th): the 21-year-old from Aargau has won 22,711 francs in his last 8 outings, including an invitation and a good tournament in Basel (17,342 francs).
Marc-Andrea Hüsler (ATP 160, best ranking 47th): the 28-year-old from Zurich has pocketed 18,437 francs for his last 10 matches.
Stan Wawrinka (ATP 163, best ranking 3rd): the 39-year-old Vaudois is out of the competition, since he has already been world No. 3 and has won three Grand Slam tournaments. His status as an icon of world tennis allows him to receive invitations wherever he wants, despite his ranking. As a result, he pocketed 604,355 francs over the entire year 2024, for 10 victories and 17 defeats. And in his last 9 games, he won 75,812 francs.
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