Raising A Tennis Star

For John, BLUF:  The statistics are against you.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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So you want you little pumpkin to be another Billie Jean King.♠  Earn the big bucks.

Maybe not.  From the FiveThirtyEight blog we have an article by Mr Carl Bialie, "Tennis Has An Income Inequality Problem"

Tennis is played and followed in most nations worldwide.  But professional players aren’t making much money.  Fewer than 1,000 pro players break even at the sport.  Far fewer make a decent living.

The opportunities to make good money are dwindling.  More players are competing for prizes that are growing slowly, especially at the game’s lowest levels.  Earlier this month, the ATP World Tour, which runs the most lucrative pro men’s events, announced it was increasing prize money significantly over the next four years.  But the most exclusive tournaments will get the biggest boosts.  After adjusting for inflation, prize money on the ATP’s Challenger Tour — the equivalent of baseball’s AAA minor league — has fallen by 25 percent in the last six years.

Soon after the ATP’s announcement, the International Tennis Federation released results of its analysis of the pro game’s financials.  Among the sobering findings:  Only 336 men and 253 women made more than they spent playing tennis last year.

Often what you do is based on what you love, not on how much it pays.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I was surprised by the Wikipedia article.  I thought Billie Jean went to Wilson and not Poly.  Lance?