Novak Djokovic has voiced his fears for lower-ranked players as the coronavirus-ravaged 2020 season draws to a close. The world No 1, in L...
Novak Djokovic has voiced his fears for lower-ranked players as the coronavirus-ravaged 2020 season draws to a close.
The world No 1, in London for the elite eight-man ATP Finals, said players ranked outside the world’s top 500 were struggling to make ends meet.
Djokovic said the biggest concern was the unpredictability of the 2021 calendar, with decisions taken out of the hands of the sport’s administrators as a result of Covid-19.
The Serbian welcomed the return of top-level tennis after a virus-forced hiatus earlier this year but said there were “a lot of unhappy lower-ranked players that don’t really have a chance to compete”.
“I think for tennis it’s great that we actually have an opportunity to compete at the biggest tournaments in the world or at least most of them since the restart of the season,” he said.
“But it is troubling to hear and to see that on the Futures level, on the first level of the professional tour, there are really very few tournaments and the biggest group of professional players on the rankings is actually there.”
Djokovic, who is bidding for a record-equalling sixth title at the ATP Finals, said players who could not participate in second-tier Challenger-level tournaments were struggling badly.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of players...
