Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from two up coming tournaments has brought into question the appearance fee the Big Three players demand when appearing at smaller competitions.
Nadal announced on Thursday that he had pulled out of the Rotterdam Open due to the back injury.
The 20-time grand slam champ has been struggling with the issue for some time after he was forced to skip Spain’s ATP Cup ties in Melbourne earlier this month.
But reports suggest Nadal will also withdraw from Acapulco, where he is the defending champion, which led to reports the competition was unable to match his appearance fee.
Tennis writer Ben Rothenberg claimed Nadal’s appearance fee could be anywhere in the vicinity of $US 1 million.
This opened up the debate on the Big Three’s – Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – pulling power and the money at the top of the game.
Some fans suggested it was “embarrassing” if certain players were so money motivated.
Rothenberg also suggested a lower ranked player could be concerned if prize money – due to the coronavirus pandemic – is dropping quicker than the appearance fees of top players.
Sports Illustrated reporter Jon Wertheim suggested more players could be pulling out of tournaments in the future if prize money doesn’t fancy them during these difficult times.
