World number three Dominic Thiem has suggested that he will refuse to donate to a proposed recovery fund for lower-ranked players, believing they didn't deserve it.
The scheme was proposed by Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, which would see the top 100 singles and 20 doubles players donating to help support lower-tier players during the coronavirus lockdown.
This would see the top five ranked players on the men's tour donate around $47,000 each, while those ranked between 50 and 100 would give up almost $8,000.
This @DjokerNole letter to fellow players with the buy-in from Rafa and Roger is truly remarkable. We will be telling our grandkids about the big 3- and some of the stories may even involve tennis... pic.twitter.com/y7DsdUDsAU
— Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) April 17, 2020
However, this proposed system has been slammed by Thiem, who suggests that they don't deserve it over regular people or organisations in need.
“No tennis player is fighting to survive, even those who are much lower-ranked. None of them are going to starve," he told Austrian newspaper, Krone.
“I would rather give money to people or organisations that really need it."
MORE: ATP chief Gaudenzi says tours can work together
He suggested that these players fail to commit to the sport and that there is no guarantee that any of them would make big money.
“There are many, many players who don’t put the sport above everything else and don’t live in a professional manner,” the 26-year-old said.
“None of us top players got anything handed to us, we all had to fight our way up.
"I don’t have the guarantee in any job that I will do well and earn lots of money.”
"I'd rather donate to people & institutions, who really need it. There is no profession in the world, where you are guaranteed success and high income at the start of your career. None of the top players took anything for granted. We all had to fight our way up the rankings."
— Lukas Zahrer (@ZahrerLukas) April 26, 2020