Sinner continues to “undermine” the world No. 1: Nole now has one more reason to resent his high-flying rival.
He will certainly hold him in immense esteem, yet something tells us that, right now, Novak Djokovic does not have much sympathy for Jannik Sinner. Nothing personal, mind you, but the fact that he has twice put him in serious trouble certainly does not make him one of Nole’s favorite people right now.
The South Tyrolean blew the Davis Cup out from under him, beating him in Malaga and thus paving the way for Italtennis. Before that, however, at the group stage of the Nitto Atp Finals, he had knocked him out. In the end he won that trophy and even took the rematch, but that does not detract from the fact that, because of the San Candido native, he broke out in a cold sweat. Very cold. And now, a few days before the end of a year that, no matter what, has been extraordinary for both of them, another tile has fallen on the Serbian number 1’s head.
Only a few people know that the Atp, at the end of the season, disburses the so-called Bonus Pool. It is, essentially, a prize intended for the 12 best players on the circuit. The only requirement, until recently, was this: excel. Now, however, in parallel with the fact that the stakes have increased, the distribution of the prize money up for grabs is also influenced by participation in the Masters 1000. And this is precisely where the shoe has dropped.
No bonus for Djokovic: 2 million to Sinner
Novak Djokovic will not receive a single Bonus Pool dollar from the Atp, despite being him the world number 1, because he has not played, precisely, all the 1000 category tournaments scheduled in 2023.
He missed, as you may recall, those in Indian Wells and Miami because the U.S. still did not allow, at the beginning of the year, those not vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter the country. By his own choice he then did not play in either Madrid, Toronto or Shanghai, thus exceeding the four-absence cap set by the Association Tennis Professionals. In short, the way Nole handled the season’s scheduling did not meet the requirements imposed, which is why this time he lost the 4.5 million he would theoretically be entitled to as undisputed king of the circuit.
Not that this destabilized him, mind you. Even without the bonus, in light of the jaw-dropping results of his umpteenth season at the top, he leads unchallenged the ranking of the highest-paid tennis players in 2023. He put just under $16 million in his pocket, $6 million more than Sinner grossed. Who, however, unlike him, also pocketed 2 million from the Bonus Pool, the just reward for his continuity.