Earlier this week, tennis player Karue Sell reached a special milestone in his career, however, the celebrations will be limited because the prize money allocated to lower-ranked tournaments is not much.
The Brazilian even asked Novak Djokovic for help because he believes that working as a McDonald's employee earns more money than players in his position.
The 31-year-old, who turns 31 in November, broke into the ATP men's top 300 for the first time on Monday, after reaching the semi-finals of the Las Vegas Challenger last week.
But before his good run in Sin City, the 30-year-old spent much of this season playing at the ITF level, where he won two titles and made several other deep runs.
But consistently playing well in those tournaments hasn't helped Sell make much money, as he's only earned $25,000 in prize money this year.
Overall, he only earned $61,000 from playing tennis throughout his career.
His other source of income comes from posting vlogs about his tennis career on YouTube and monetizing it.
“Today I broke 300 for the first time. But I would make more money if I worked at McDonald's (laughing emoji). I'm fine with my online job but I feel sorry for my colleagues. The level is now as high as 400 (at least), have to play in challenger. Tennis has broken the usual Top 100," Sell wrote on X.
A few years ago, when Djokovic launched the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), he affirmed his belief that players needed a strong federation and one that would fight for them to ensure better rights and conditions across the Tour.
At the time, the Serbian stressed that one of the things the organisation would focus on was ensuring lower-ranked players had better conditions and a better chance of making a living playing at Challenger and ITF levels.
In stating his views, Sell - ranked 299th in the world, tagged PTPA and pleaded for help.
"Not saying players need to be making millions but they are being ripped off across the board. Top 50 should be making more, 100, 150, 200. Would love to see some real change here @ptpaplayers. Without a federation players have no voice. Just shut up and play," Sell wrote.
“It starts with the fact that players are now competing for fewer points in challenger events, while the ATP has more points. This is done without any notice to the players."
Soon after the 30-year-old made some harsh comments about the conditions of lower-level ATP events, the matter started to attract attention and feedback from people. And with that, he felt the need to say one thing - he loves tennis but doesn't want his children playing the sport if certain things remain the way they are.
“We are the third or fourth most watched sport globally. About 1.3 billion people watch, but we can't just have over 400 people making a living from this sport, both men and women.
“I think we have to keep that in mind and really think about whether the sport is doing well or not. Of course, the top players are doing well and are not complaining. But I am speaking on behalf of all the lower-ranked players who are struggling to make a living. I think the main goal is to help them,” Djokovic said in March 2023.
