How come players turn pro?

michaeljoyce

New User
Hello everyone,
this is my first post here and i'm gonna ask a question that is on my brain for almost a few weeks now...
my question is regarding players turning pro and traveling all over the world and spending so much big amount of money to pay coaches and all the expenses!
one thing i know for sure is that not every tennis professional has the money to travel and all...it'd take something like at least $50-100 k to travel and play futures,juniors,etc...(cuz unlike challengers those are not free from hotel charges!)
does anyone know how comes that players turn pro? are all of them that rich to do so or are there some people/management companies/sponsors to lend them the money to do so?
sorry for my english,
and bye
 

burosky

Professional
From what I understand, there are those who can afford to finance their careers and those who get sponsors who will shoulder their expenses but get a percentage of what they earn.
 

Grimjack

Banned
Hello everyone,
this is my first post here and i'm gonna ask a question that is on my brain for almost a few weeks now...
my question is regarding players turning pro and traveling all over the world and spending so much big amount of money to pay coaches and all the expenses!
one thing i know for sure is that not every tennis professional has the money to travel and all...it'd take something like at least $50-100 k to travel and play futures,juniors,etc...(cuz unlike challengers those are not free from hotel charges!)
does anyone know how comes that players turn pro? are all of them that rich to do so or are there some people/management companies/sponsors to lend them the money to do so?
sorry for my english,
and bye

All of them are "that rich." Spoiled, would be a better way to put it, with mommy and daddy footing the bill for Junior's hopeless dream.

But "that rich" is of course, a subjective declaration. In the first world, having 50 or 100k a year to blow on your child's dream really isn't that much for people who got educations and took an intelligent risk or two in their lives.
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Some players and families have to take financial risks. That is how champions emerge. Same for governments and tennis bodies with partial public funding like USTA. You fund many things, a few pan out. Same thing in science, humanities, or VCs funding startups. Most fail, a few succeed. Human talent is not a predictable science. If everyone saved their cash and played safe, there would be no achievements in any field. No Agassi, no Silicon Valley stars, nothing. In fact, the risk taking spirit is the single most greatest asset of the US, from the early pioneer days till today.
 

Grigollif1

Semi-Pro
All of them are "that rich." Spoiled, would be a better way to put it, with mommy and daddy footing the bill for Junior's hopeless dream.

But "that rich" is of course, a subjective declaration. In the first world, having 50 or 100k a year to blow on your child's dream really isn't that much for people who got educations and took an intelligent risk or two in their lives.

Is not all rich like that, what you basically need is talent/Trainning and you can follow a ladder that will lead you to the pros. They start doing well in the Juniors and then pratically every country in the world has Future tournaments in or near (3 level pro tournaments) that the players don't have to travel far to play. And as soon as they start doing well on those events, they will already earn some $$ and move up to Challenger events
(2 level pro tennis tournaments) And then if they do well on those, they pretty much are going to earn good money to travel and pay most exepenses and will problably have all gear, and most travel expenses etc... sponsored.

I say that because here in Brazil, some of the pros actually started as ball boys for country clubs and then moved up to be the best in the clubs and then Futures, challengers etc... so this notion that you have to be flat rich to be a pro, is not correct. A lot of them have regular humble living. What you really need is talent and training since early age and be really serious about it.
 
Not to digress from the OP, but the topic makes me wonder why most of the westeners blast the fact that the Chinese players have to pay a share of their prize money to the sports authority that funds their entire career. It suddenly hits me how the reasoning works:

In the mind of most people here:

government sponsorships = communism
and communism = bad, so
government sponsorship of tennis = bad

Never mind private sponsors taking a cut because "being private" is unquestonably good.

And never mind the US government taking over the bankcrupting IndyMac bank, or injecting billions to save Fannie and Freddie, because anything done by the "free world" is again unquestionably good.
 

Grigollif1

Semi-Pro
A lot of countries have private Federations that help the young players like France, U.S not to mention that you can make the college route to beomce a Pro. It seems clear to me, that if a player is talented enough and trains well, he can be dependent free to become a pro, specially from family resources. There are several ways.
 

Fee

Legend
I know two players who are not rich that are trying to make a living on tour right now. I think players go pro because they love the game and they are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to play it at the lowest levels. Maybe some of them go pro because they are pushed into it by overbearing parents, some do it because they are so talented that it really can be a ticket to help their families. I'm sure they all have different reasons.
 
I know two players who are not rich that are trying to make a living on tour right now. I think players go pro because they love the game and they are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to play it at the lowest levels. Maybe some of them go pro because they are pushed into it by overbearing parents, some do it because they are so talented that it really can be a ticket to help their families. I'm sure they all have different reasons.

You're right--there is no one definitive answer.
 

burosky

Professional
I think aside from the accolades and adulation, the common denominator for those who turn pro are the financial benefits.
 
Parents don't need to be rich to support their child's dreams.

Look at Sharapova and the Williams Sisters. All three had parents who were not that wealthy yet they became pros.
 

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Not to digress from the OP, but the topic makes me wonder why most of the westeners blast the fact that the Chinese players have to pay a share of their prize money to the sports authority that funds their entire career. It suddenly hits me how the reasoning works:

In the mind of most people here:

government sponsorships = communism
and communism = bad, so
government sponsorship of tennis = bad

Never mind private sponsors taking a cut because "being private" is unquestonably good.

And never mind the US government taking over the bankcrupting IndyMac bank, or injecting billions to save Fannie and Freddie, because anything done by the "free world" is again unquestionably good.

There are those who understand the subtleties and those who don't. Not everyone who criticizes China is clueless. It is a coincidence that there is an article about this in the latest issue of Inside Tennis. The problem comes when too much pressure is put on the players to win because they are getting funded. You have to win a Slam, you better win the Olympic medal etc, because we funded you. The treatment is harsh.

Otherwise, the myth of private funding in the US is ... just a myth. The USTA and the USOC receive government funds. There is indirect pressure from govt on private companies to sponsor Olympic players due to patriotic reasons. Science is heavily funded by the government thru university grants and military contracts. The Internet was once a DARPA project. So those who question government funding in other countries need to understand this.
 
Do those management companies ever help players with financial support? i think some of them such as octagon and or RTM (with norman canter's precidency) do...if i'm not mistaken some players are being managed and supported by those companiesso that might be a little help to the OP's query...
 

Fee

Legend
Yes, they help financially and then kind of take over in other ways. I know someone who was had a sponsorship deal with a management company and he left them after one year because they made him play a horrible schedule. But that is one person's experience. I'm sure some players have great relationships with their agents, managers, sponsors, and whatevers.
 
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