"The only one who can afford not to play is Sinner at the moment" - ATP star lashes out at current financial situation on tour

Former World No.58 Taro Daniel has spoken out about the current season's schedule on the ATP Tour, stating only high-ranked players have the liberty of skipping smaller tournaments that may not be as financially lucrative as others.

The American-born Japanese star has had a busy schedule this year, playing at over 30 events. These range from Challenger events to ATP Masters 1000s, Grand Slams and even the Paris Olympics.

Read also

Andy Murray discloses plans to begin new career as restaurateur, set to open new eatery

Daniel highlights Tiafoe playing at a lower-level tournament

The World No.89 recently took to social media to point out how little the ATP does in promoting events that do not feature high-ranked players. Daniel called attention to Frances Tiafoe competing at the Almaty Open, an ATP 250 event. Despite the American being a top 15 player, very few fans were aware of his participation at the tournament due to the ATP's lack of promotion.

"Schedule is so spread out over so many different places, fans don’t even know what’s going on. How many people know that Frances Tiafoe is in Kazakhstan this week? That there are 5-6 challengers going on every week?" wrote Daniel in a thread on Twitter.

Read also

Tournament Centre Six Kings Slam 2024: Schedule, all results, Prize Money, Draw and TV Guide

Furthermore, the 31-year old stated only World No.1 Jannik Sinner was financially stable enough to pick and choose the tournaments he would play in. Sinner is currently participating at the Six Kings Slam exhibition event in Riyadh.

"I don’t have solutions but there has to be more efficient ways to qualify to events where we actually make a living (GS and masters)," he continued. "It is your choice to play but when there are that many events, the only one who can afford not to play them is Sinner at the moment,
"We don’t even have to mention lower tier tournaments. It is a crazy concept that in a such high level environment like a 250 most people involved are not making money. These tournaments make up 60 percent of most players’ calendar having to travel to foreign countries most times."