MELBOURNE - Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, the two greatest tennis players of the past decade, have criticised Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov for saying tennis players are not paid enough.
"He should take his prizemoney when he's done here and go buy himself some perspective," said Agassi, the defending Australian Open champion.
"I'd
be hard-pressed ever to spend time with a person who thinks that making hundreds of thousands of dollars is not enough money."
Kafelnikov, a multimillionaire who uses his own jet to travel to tournaments, raised eyebrows on Thursday when he said tennis fared poorly in comparison with some other professional sports.
The former French and Australian Open champion and reigning Olympic gold medallist, who has won $US18 million ($40 million) in prizemoney, said many players shared his view.
Sampras and Agassi, winners of a staggering $US62 million in prizemoney between them, disagreed.
"I think we're all overpaid," Sampras said. "We play a sport and we get paid very well. I don't play for the prizemoney, I play for the titles."
Sampras has cut the number of tournaments he enters over the past five years to concentrate on the four Grand Slams.
"Yevgeny plays every week, so you know what he likes," Sampras said.
Players often earn many times more than their prizemoney in endorsements and sponsorship contracts, allowing the best players to live privileged lives.
Agassi said Kafelnikov's comments were disrespectful to the game's fans and he had told the Russian not to speak on his behalf.
"The fans deserve a lot of respect. They pay for the tickets and they come out and they make it possible for us to play tennis for a living."
Kafelnikov said he hoped fans would not judge him harshly for speaking his mind.
Defending women's champion Lindsay Davenport voiced some support for Kafelnikov's claim.
In total, the men's ATP Tour carries prizemoney of $US65.5 million, excluding the four Grand Slams.
- REUTERS
Sampras at full stretch
