“You continue to make yourself look like a d**k” Reilly Opelka gets bashed on social media for complaining about the ‘humongous’ prize money male tennis players receive
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Reilly Opelka, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe (R- IMAGO / AFLOSPORT)
Taylor Fritz battled past Frances Tiafoe in straight sets 7-6,7-6 to win the Japan Open. This was Fritz’s third title of the season having won the Indian Wells Masters and the Eastbourne International previously. With this win, he has also broken into the Top 10 and is currently the World No.8. But despite the conclusion of the event, there still is a lot of talk about the tournament’s prize money.
As the winner, Fritz will get prize money of $365,275 which is less as compared to that of the previous few editions. In 2018, the Japan Open winner got around $384,000 and hence there is a lot of talk about why this year’s prize money is less. American big-serving giant Reilly Opelka pointed this out and said that Fritz and Tiafoe played in front of a packed house in one of the biggest events on the ATP Tour and still are getting less money than the players who played in 2018.
“So let me get this straight. My boys battle it out today in the final of Tokyo in front of a packed house, one of the biggest events on @atptour and they are playing for LESS $ than the guys in 2018?!” Opelka said.
Although this is not as straightforward as it looks. The tournament has intended to narrow the gap between players who reach the business end of the tournament and those who bow out of the early rounds. The overall prize money has seen a massive increase of about $170,000 which in every aspect, is very fair.
Tennis Twitter calls out Reilly Opelka for his comments
Reilly Opelka got a lot of bashing on social media for complaining despite men getting so much more than women athletes. Tennis fans called him privileged and asked him to also take a stand against the unfair pay women tennis players get.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)