Wawrinka puts Slams and tennis bosses on blast with furious ‘not normal’ rant
Stan Wawrinka has blasted the Grand Slam tournaments and governing bodies in tennis, claiming it wasn’t “normal” for bosses to continue making decisions without consulting players. The three-time Grand Slam champion said tennis stars had been dealing with the same problems for 20 years in an emotionally charged rant as he slammed the tournaments for only thinking of themselves.
Wawrinka has often been outspoken about various issues in tennis, most recently weighing in on the debate about changing tennis balls. He also slammed the ITF for changing the Davis Cup format during the group stage weekend in Manchester earlier this year, claiming that they were “paying people to support and make some noise for every country at every match”.
The former world No 3 has now hit out at the Grand Slams, ATP, WTA and ITF in a scathing rant about the issues in tennis, berating them for being selfish. “They do not redistribute enough to tennis compared to the income they generate. And they have way too much power because they make [so much] money,” Wawrinka told L’Equipe.
“[The Slams are] where the history of tennis is written. These are the richest Federations which do not redistribute much. Even between them, there is no communication. The income from Grand Slams today is very important and the percentage returned to players is ridiculous. It has hardly increased at all.”
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While players still receive some of their best paydays at the Slams, Wawrinka argued that the tournaments were holding onto the vast majority of the money they made. “Today, we are stuck until the day the players say stop,” he added. And that wasn’t the only issue Wawrinka had, as he cited the Australian Open’s recent announcement that the tournament would be extended to 15 days, starting on Sunday instead of Monday.
The 38-year-old explained: “Tennis Australia showed up to say, ‘We’re starting on the first Sunday’, like that, thank you goodbye. Did anyone ask us what we thought about it? No. It’s like that. From the outside, you tell yourself that this is not normal. That means we don’t work together.” But Wawrinka wasn’t surprised as he suggested that players had been having the same conversations for years.
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He continued: “The real problem with tennis is that most things are done in reaction. Nobody anticipates anything. We must include the players in the discussions to also explain to them the reasons for such and such discussions. When it comes to balls, the tournaments don’t want to agree because they all have a different sponsor, and at the same time we still have to fight to have enough to train with.
“We go in circles. I’ve been on the circuit for twenty years and we talk about the same problems over and over again. The problem with tennis is that there are too many governances, too many different entities which only look out for their own interests. Today, the real problem in tennis is the Grand Slams.”
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