Introduction to the Struggles of Professional Tennis
Noah Rubin knew how he had reached the limits of his exhaustion. After winning the Wimbledon Junior title in 2014 and a successful first year as a professional tennis player until 2018, the American believed that his career was going downhill. He was alone in a Spanish hotel room and had gone through a lower challenger tournament from the lower area in the qualification rounds and had lost against an opponent that he should have beaten.
The Reality of Professional Tennis
Rubin’s story is more the rule than the exception in tennis, which is seen as a glamorous and lucrative sport. However, reality is often the opposite. Every year, hundreds of players on the professional race track and travel from tournament to tournament, while they have difficulty making rounds. Many don’t even win enough prize money to compensate for their costs. "It ends with anxiety and depression," said Rubin. "How dark is to travel to some unknown places and try to find happiness or comfort, knowing that you jump just before this place and not just have to win a match, but you have to scream through it."
The Disparity in Prize Money
In Wimbledon, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis, the men’s and women’s champions will hire £3 million (EUR 3.5 million, $4.12 million) of prize money each. Even a player who loses in the first round will take £66,000 home. Outside of these big tournaments, however, the selection is far leaner. "If you don’t do well in a Grand Slam, you don’t make any money," said Rubin, who reached a career high of World No. 125 before finally retiring last year.
The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) Lawsuit
The poor player content is one of the reasons why the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), an independent group, sues the government bodies of tennis. The organization, which was co-founded by Novak Djokovic, wants to completely change the way the sport works. According to PTPA, 70% of the world’s leading 1,000 male and female players earn less than $50,000 per year. 80% of this group earn less than their season costs. The PTPA argues that the players should achieve a larger piece of tournament revenue, and claim that they currently have only 17% of the cake.
The Financial Struggles of Tennis Players
In contrast to their colleagues in top US sports leagues, whose salaries are negotiated by collective bargaining, professional tennis players are effectively freelance. They earn due to their performance and have to cover their own costs. This includes flights as well as accommodation and salaries of their support team. Rubin estimates that the cost of hiring a trainer and a physio is up to $5,000 a week. But a bad shape can tighten the feeling of hopelessness. Sometimes the temptation is to save money without foregoing.
The PTPA’s Demands for Change
The PTPA’s lawsuit, which was submitted in March 2025, accused tennis’ government bodies, among other things, of being a "cartel" to keep the player’s profits low. "At the moment we are taking this bitter medicine that we all hoped to avoid, but things didn’t change," said Ahmad Nassar, Executive Director of PTPA. "We believe that this will be a catalyst for real and permanent changes, not only in the next few years, but in the long run." The ATP and WTA tours on which the tennis is operated by men and women have tried to switch off the lawsuit and complain that it is "completely without merit" (ATP) and "regrettable and misguided" (WTA).
The Need for Transparency and Fairness
Rubin, who is one of 12 current and former players who have been referred to as the plaintiff in the PTPA’s complaint, says he was grateful for the possibilities and experiences that tennis offered to him, however, believes that sport has to be clean over the costs and victims. "Tell us that we won’t make any money," he said. "Tell us that it will be an enormous bright struggle. My whole new thing is the redefinition of success as a tennis player. Nobody can do it, right? There are very few people who do it. The percentages are so small."
