Former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova, who retired six years ago, thinks that women’s tennis players should be more grateful for their paychecks and stop complaining about prize money.
The 40-year-old Hantuchova, who earned close to $10.5 million during her 18 years on the WTA Tour, said in a recent interview for a Czech tennis portal:
It feels a bit like they’re spoiled. Especially on the women’s circuit, where the prize money is what it is, and the girls certainly don’t work in mines from four in the morning. It is hard, but we never allowed ourselves to criticize because we knew that the checks we were receiving were thanks to the tournament.
While Hantuchova criticizes WTA players for demanding more money, she absolutely understands their struggle when it comes to constant travel:
From this point of view, tennis is the most demanding sport that exists. For me personally, it was one of the reasons why I quit. The body could no longer handle the time differences , I kept waking up out of the normal rhythm, it was unhealthy. I told myself that it wasn’t even worth the money, that I’d rather be well at 60. It was over the edge.
