Challenger Problems

The Challenger Circuit is where the journeyman tennis players ply their trade. Playing in some small town or the other for very little ranking points and even less prize money.

That throws up the ever present accusations of match-fixing and there was even an in-depth article by the BBC about how the mafia is in on it to the tune of over $100,000 in profits per match.

Here's one example of the prize structure of a Challenger Tournament. The winner of a tournament only nets $7,200. He could make more throwing the game away!

Perhaps it's time for the ATP to reduce the number of tournaments and increase the prize payouts so as to deter syndicates from trying to fix the match?

It's a tough balancing act because on the one-hand you want to encourage the sport at the grassroots level but on the other, this prize structure is not sustainable unless the player has absolutely no support team.