It has been learned that Carlos Alcaraz will not be partaking in the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna, beginning next week. This is because the appearance fee he requested was too much to bear for the tournament officials. With that withdrawal, the hopes of the Spaniard to leapfrog Novak Djokovic and become the world no.1 by the year-end has diminished considerably.
It was expected that Alcaraz might feature at the other ATP 500 tournament which is happening in Basel, Switzerland. The young Spaniard withdrew from that event too, owing to an injury he sustained to his left foot and due to the continuous need of nursing muscle fatigue concerning his back.
Tournament director at Vienna, Herwig Straka has said that, though discussions were held to welcome Alcaraz, the idea was ultimately ruled out taking the finances involved into consideration. The appearance fee of the Spaniard came roughly to about $795265.7. According to Straka, the money was instead used to increase the density of top players at the event.
The event in Vienna will feature 12 of the top 20 players in the world, with stars like Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, and Andrey Rublev being notable among them. Straka will be keeping his fingers crossed and hoping for the success of the tournament, with the amount of hard work endured to improve the facilities at the venue.
It is to be pondered whether the appearance fees demanded by Alcaraz will prevent him from taking part in future tournaments or will his drive to compete has its way. For now, he will have to do without the points concerning the ATP 500 tournament at Vienna, in his quest to regain the top ranking in the world.
Carlos Alcaraz sets a record in reaching the $20 million milestone
Though Carlos Alcaraz was denied a seventh title at Cincinnati, his runner-up result at the ATP 1000 event meant that he achieved a milestone of surpassing $20 million in prize money. With the runner-up cheque of $556,630, his career prize money swelled to $20,366,307. Right now, his earnings as prize money stands at $21,433,522.
Carlos Alcaraz with Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz gets posh {Credits – Sports Illustrated, People}
With that milestone, the Spanish sensation created a record as he became the first tennis player, male or female, to have been born in the 2000s to reach the staggering mark of $20 million as prize money. He was the 29th player, overall in ATP history, to get to that milestone.
2023 began on a rather sedate note for Alcaraz as he was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open due to a hamstring injury. But that did not deter him, as he reached the semifinals of all the other Grand Slams which in turn played a significant part in increasing the tally of his prize money. Needless to say, his title-winning run at Wimbledon was the highlight and contributed immensely to his earnings.
With the earnings off the court to go along with it, Carlos Alcaraz comes second in the list of highest-paid tennis players for the year, 2023. That is a significant jump from the previous year when he was placed at No.10 on the list. Due to this rise, Alcaraz has been able to stake a claim for a higher appearance fee at tournaments, as he has emerged as an attendance draw at events.
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