Vasek Pospisil calls ATP chief ‘incredibly ignorant’ after controversial comments
Vasek Pospisil has responded to ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi’s comments regarding the Challenger Tour and claims Gaudenzi “feels it’s okay for only the top 100 players to make a living.”
Canadian Pospisil is one of the founding members of the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) alongside 20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
The PTPA represents the top 500 singles players and the top 200 doubles players in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.
The ATP is the organising and governing body of men’s professional tennis, whilst the WTA are the equivalent for the women’s game.
ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi recently commented on the financial state and unviability of the Challenger Tour, the second-tier of ATP tours.
Gaudenzi said “in the Challenger Tour you should be able to at least break even and pay your costs. But you have to be conscious that this is sort of like a university. It’s an investment. Then go and move into the pro tour where you have a job.
“I don’t think it will ever be possible to have a sustainable tour at that level [the Challenger Tour] simply because it lacks the interest of the fans and the engagement of the sponsors, broadcasters and ticket revenues.”
These comments received widespread backlash from a number of tennis players, namely PTPA co-founder Pospisil.
Pospisil was highly critical of Gaudenzi’s comments and labelled him as “incredibly ignorant” in a Twitter post.
The Canadian said “this is incredibly ignorant from the so-called leader of the ATP and the sport of tennis. A multi-billion dollar industry yet this man feels it’s ok for only the top 100 players to make a living. This is what happens when you completely monopolize the sport.”
Moreover, four-time doubles Grand Slam champion and Australian Open CEO Paul McNamee also called Gaudenzi’s comments “highly disrespectful to quality players, who have no choice!”
McNamee claimed “perhaps it’s because he’s so focused on expanding the [ATP Masters] 1000’s to two weeks each, which will reduce the number of tournaments even further?”
This is incredibly ignorant from the so-called leader of the ATP and the sport of tennis. A multi-billion dollar industry yet this man feels it’s ok for only the top 100 players to make a living. This is what happens when you completely monopolize the sport. #changeiscoming #PTPA https://t.co/uR2itPcJqo
— Vasek Pospisil (@VasekPospisil) December 17, 2021
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