The Rooskies are coming…er …maybe not,.

We have Medvedev, honorary German Zverev, Roob-left and much overlooked Khachanov. In all these great strapping fellows must have played in a 100 Majors now. And they have one win….Medvedev. One in a hundred, are these guys chokers or what.

Zverev had Medvedev beaten and choked. Medvedev had Sinner beaten and choked. And how many matches has Roob-left blown

At least the the ladies picture is a bit brighter with Sabalenka, but her’s was more a victory from just being the stronger player. She too has blown her fair share.

Sinner played 3 good sets to win and his forehand on match point was magic. But Medvedev got too passive and let the match slip away. I have to say the Big 3 still look a level above. Could you ever imagine Nadal fading away like that.

 I hope some new young talent emerges soon to push Sinner and Alcatraz, the Rooskies make for incredibly dull tennis.

Mozart

When I was in  St Petersburg in 1993 - what struck me was the number of people having  tennis rackets with them.      I think it could b as many as 20% on the male side.    Perhaps that is why there are so many Russians and ex-Russians involved in tennis from those days to present time there and are Russian players in the top 10 ranked player category.    In other words tennis is a top sport activity in Russia.    

 The set-up involving the top 10 players  have close friendship ties - bar perhaps Tsitsipas who used to be in the same circle.   In many ways the friendship circle entail three players - Rublev, Djokovic and  Fritz.     That situation includes activities such as training together leading ultimately to include public support.     It is also evident  that these thee players are very much respected when looking at the player video circuit and even their contributions to Charity programs/     In that Djokovic and Rublev make major contributions to welfare projects.

The ranking points of the majors is  8000 points per year.   There are 10 ATP 1000 tournaments - represntning  10  000 ranking points  and normally about   12 APT 500 tournaments   - 6000 ranking points and 36 APT250 tournaments - 9 000 ranking points.    My point is that tennis as a sport cannot be defined having only four majors per year - tennis as a sport is kept alive by the other 26 500 ranking point tournaments.     Top players concentrate on the APT1000 and  ATP500 tournaments and rarely plays in the APT 250 tournaments..       

The main objective of all top tennis players are to get into the NITTO Championships  in Turin - where the prize money earned by players are double what they can earn in a major tournament.   It is limited to only the top 8 players in the world, so competition to get into and stay in the top 8 ranked players are intense..    That is why there are a separate ranking system for that tournament in particular are in place.   .   

In essence nobody disputes the importance of the majors abut to leave the evaluation of players based only on the majors is rather sh ortsighted.    nd l;eave out anything else as important is not a reflection of tennis performances on its own..                   .      .       .           .            .       

No the main objective of all the players I mentioned is to win a Major….no question. Prize money is a fraction of sponsorship money, which depends on winning Majors.

The act is th ere are four majors a year and that s in fact an objective of players - the players themselves strive to get into the NITTO end of year Championship - anybody can get into the Majors - only 8 players get into the EOY Championship.    

No Mozart - sponsorship is not all that important - an example being Rublev who gave up his own Nike sponsorship and started his own clothing brand sold throughouit the world - with all profits going to aid to needy children.      That brand is a welfare approach  and in that  he is supported by Djokovic who used his own sponsorship income from Nike  for welfare purposes,    In fact a number of players  are considering joining Rublev in his effort to get money for welfare purposes and not for corporate .profit.   

Most of the tennis players are actually more set on doing good for less fortunate in society and not for only enriching themselves.    Incidentally they have a variety of sponsorships from other companies that Rublev regard as sufficient to cover his own staff costs and travel costs.    Their winnings are sheer profit.    In 2023 Rublev's income from tennis match wins grew from $15.3 million to $23,5 million and that makes him a very wealthy player with homes in Moscow and Miami - if to that is added his other three sponsorships  - which add to his income.  He gave up on Nike and that is what  most players like to get from clothing companies.

There are rumours that Djokovic and Rublev are co-operating in welfare projects  and may end up using the same brand as does Rublev at present.    They are close friends and co-operation seems to be on the cards.    The other players in close relationship with Djokovic and  Rublev are  Medvedev, Zverev, Rune, Fritz, Sinner, De Minaur and  Dimitrov -. with players like Shelton on the fringe already.        .                 

This from Forbes:

Since 2007, Roger Federer has reigned as the world’s highest-paid tennis player. But while the 42-year-old Swiss ace is still collecting an estimated $95 million a year, his retirement last September means that one of his old rivals now wears the crown as the sport’s top earner—with an heir apparent looking increasingly ready to seize the throne.

Novak Djokovic is the new champion of Forbes’ annual tennis earnings list, hauling in an estimated $38.4 million (before taxes and agents’ fees) over the past 12 months. No other active player can match his total on the court ($13.4 million from prize money) or off the court (an estimated $25 million from endorsement deals, appearance fees, and licensing and memorabilia income). But Carlos Alcaraz, who outlasted Djokovic in an epic Wimbledon final in July to claim his second Grand Slam title, is not far behind by either measure. The 20-year-old Spanish phenom raked in $31.4 million over the past 12 months, including $11.4 million on the court and an estimated $20 million off it, to land at No. 2.

Mozart

You, are a gullible idiot.   I am discussing tennis and the interest of tennis players in welfare interest of players - you talk only about money.

Nobody disputes it - but spionsorship money adn income from wins are taxable - unless you reside in Monaco and pay no taxes on either..   Djokovic live in Belgrade  and Federer in Switzerland - so taxation will cut their income from both in roundabout half anyway.   A few players like Medvedev and Rublev lives in Monaco and their only taxation on income payable is iro the grants they get from the Russian Tennis Federation that is reduced by their costs attached to heir staff.     

Bu then we eally do not know much about the issue of their properties anyway - 

*      federer has a luxury villa in Switzerland and a house in Knyna where he keeps his fishing boat and equipmment - and plays golf in the SA summer  at Fairfield golf course - I beleive his mother may live permanentsly in his Knysna home - but even that is guessing. 

*      Djokovic lives in Belgrade and I is not certain whether he owns other properties.

*       Medvedev and Rublev has properties in Monaco, and owns homes in Moscow while Rublev also owns a home in Miami.  

All top 10 playes have a wide range of sponsorships with Rublev cutting it down to only 3 such sponsorships when eh decided to cut out some sponsorships and register hsi own brand - the income from which goes to charities dealing with children.    In that respect he and Djokovic has close ties on that  with Rublev.   

That is what people get from some media reports and may not even be accurate.   Very little is in fact known about the issue of the players and most media reports deal only with income from winning of tournament and guessing about sponsorships.      

The tennis players are dedicated to and love their sport and money is in many cases a side-issue  - especially since they are wealthy already.   The players never giove out any info on thei financial situation anyway.

So lets keep to tennis and away from media guesses.    

*                       

No media guesses….sponsorship  Carrie’s more weight than prize money, and sponsorship is more influenced by Major wins.

Prestige in turn is again measured by the number of Majors won, the only generally quoted performance metric.

In both instances, money and prestige, Majors are far more important than rankings. There now you know.

Sponsorship is different from play to player - but it has fuck-all to do with  the advancement of game of Tennis playing  at all.    It aims at promoting and using  players to advance  the i.nterests of companies in making  profits.    If that is the only issue then tennis would have been dead as a game many years ago.   

I think players like Djokovic and Rublev realize the above and is spending their sponsorship income to enhance the game as a competitive sport in the world and spent fortunes on that issue. - especially when it comes to tennis promotion among st needy youths.   Federer also on a vey limited scale is involved in that as well.

I am really amazed by your conduct on site - on rugby you said WC mayches sh ioulkd eb excluded when it comes to evaluations - in the case of Tennis the only thing that counts is te Majors.     If there are only about 5% of the players being competing in the  Majors - th en tennis will be killed of. as a game played worldwide.      

             .