There is no doubt that tennis is experiencing a very particular and in some ways unprecedented phase with very profitable performances outside the official ATP calendar which arise above all in Saudi Arabia as taught by the recent presentation of the Six Kings Slam which will take place will be held in Riyadh next October and will see an exceptional cast at the starting line made up of Novak Djokovic, Carlitos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune and Rafael Nadal.
In an interview with the Tennis Majors website, Alexander Bublik explained that tennis is at a crossroads and changes are necessary. The Kazakh player speaks to Saudi Arabia’s entry into the world of tennis.
Alexander Bublik© Mark Brake / Stringer Getty Images Sport
Bublik won the ATP 250 tournament in Montpellier last week. And this week he is in Oslo, Norway where an official ATP tournament is not being played but the first stage of the UTS Tour is being played, an exhibition with very particular rules which will see other weekends of competitions throughout the year.
Bublik wants more money and less matches
The theme of the infinite resources that the Saudis can deploy strikes a chord with some tennis players and Bublik is one of them.
“I’m for changes and we’ve been playing with the same prize money for 15 years. They’re increasing the prize money by 2% and they think we should be happily ever after. I think the changes are crucial. We need it and the players need it,” explained the Kazakh.
In addition to the salary increase, Bublik spoke about the need for significant changes to the calendar, due to the long tennis season.
“The players deserve changes, tennis players deserve to be treated well, paid well and play less. And enjoy the atmosphere more because otherwise it would be really challenging to play for 11 months straight. At the end of the year at the end of the year you have just a month off and then you start again. So I think the players deserve a better life,” said Bublik.
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