India’s tennis player
Sumit Nagal has recently revealed that
he received his first big payment from a sponsor Gatorade.
The top-ranked player earlier complained about lack of support
from the local organisation but his fortunes changed after he was signed by his
new sponsor.
The development was praised by the Executive Director of the
Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), Ahmad Nassar who also lauded
the efforts of the current world number one
Novak Djokovic and Tunisia’s Ons
Jabeur.
The PTPA was established after the efforts of the Serbian
tennis star who has been very vocal about better pay rates for the players,
especially those participating in the lower levels.
Nassar, in a post on his official account on the social
media platform X — previously known as Twitter — has heaped praise on Djokovic and
Jabeur — who is the other high-profile player to join the association — for doing
work for the betterment of the players at the lower levels.
“So glad to see this & hope it’s the first of many new
sponsors. @ptpaplayers leaders like Novak Djokovic &
Ons Jabeur have
recently spoken up about support and getting to a place where more professional
tennis players can make a living. Even though it’s an individual sport, it’s a
team effort!" Nassar wrote.
Djokovic is often renowned as the greatest player in the
history of men’s singles tennis in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand
Slam titles.
His most recent victory came in the US Open 2023 where he
defeated the current world number three Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the final
with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.
On the other hand, Jabeur is going through a bit of a rough
patch, especially after she lost another Grand Slam final at Wimbledon earlier
this year.
Since that defeat, the current world number seven was
knocked out of the Cincinnati Open (Western & Southern Open) in the quarterfinal
after losing to current world number one Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka in straight
sets with a score of 7-5, 6-3.
Jabeur’s journey in the US Open was also a short one as she
exited the competition after losing the fourth-round encounter to China’s Qinwen
Zheng in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4.
