Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal slammed over ‘shameful and embarrassing’ inequality as Novak Djokovic is hailed
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have been lambasted by Marco Trungelliti over their failure to help reduce the inequality in tennis with the Argentine praising Novak Djokovic for trying to change the system through his Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA).
Those at the very top in tennis earn millions every year not only from prize money, but also sponsorship. However, the pay gap to those lower down the rankings – especially outside the top 200 – is massive with a lot of players struggling to make a living and they often have to borrow money to travel to tournaments outside their home country.
Djokovic and his PTPA – which was only launched in August 2021 – are trying to reduce the inequality in tennis by increasing the prize money for those lower down the rankings.
Trungelliti feels what Djokovic is doing is “indispensable”, which is in stark contrast to his fellow Big Three rivals Federer and Nadal.
The former world No 112 believes the two tennis greats were “shameful” for not doing more to change the imbalanced system while they dominated the sport, adding they were “complicit”.
During an eye-opening interview with Argentina’s La Nacion, Trungelliti was asked how important it is for someone like Djokovic to talk about the imbalance of the system and he replied: “I think it is indispensable. People may not like it, but Federer and Nadal never said anything.
“Whether you like it or not, they are complicit in how bad the system is, because they were not able to open their mouths even once and fight for the rights of the players.
“If they ever did it it was internally, but it didn’t change anything. Only this year the Challengers’ prizes were changed a little, but they are still embarrassing, when we supposedly came out of the most golden era in the history of tennis.
“You can’t be complicit in the fact that 80-100 people make a living from tennis. It’s what has always bothered me and will continue to bother me. As players, they can be very good, but as humans trying to improve the system in general, they seem very poor to me. This is what Djokovic and [Vasek] Pospisil are doing today as well. Plus, all that work at the PTPA takes up time and energy.”
Trungelliti, now No 236 in the ATP Rankings, also opened up about the match-fixing scandal that he was involved in.
The Argentine was approached by bookies in 2015 and he reported it to the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU). His decision to report the matter resulted in Argentine players Nicolas Kicker, Patricio Heras and Federico Coria being banned by the TIU.
He admitted that he feared for his life in recent years as he relocated to Andorra for a couple of years before finally returning home to Buenos Aires recently.
“I did not return and played only in Europe, which did not guarantee me absolute security either,” he said. “Maybe in Andorra yes, because everything is smaller. But there were places, even in Europe, where I didn’t go; I played everything in Spain and Italy. I only went to Banja Luka (Bosnia) once.
“Something that happened to me, linked to depression, is that the tournament ended and I wanted to return home as soon as possible, which was the only place where I felt safe, well, accompanied.
“Today we returned to the country because I also want my son to meet his grandparents and my grandmother. I think he would never forgive me for not knowing his great-grandmother because I was not able to face an uncomfortable situation. Afterwards, it may be that I’m playing here, I feel bad and I don’t want to come back, but that’s another thing.”
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic issues PTPA rallying call: ‘We are going to fight for the players’ rights’
