“The Golden Child is greedy” “I’d rather watch Carlos Alcaraz than Novak Djokovic” – Reports of Spaniard’s high participation fees divides fans

Tennis fans shared mixed reactions as reports of Carlos Alcaraz’s participation fees emerged. Several fans compared his charges to those of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer.

Alcaraz has taken the tennis world by storm over the past couple of years. The Spaniard, who had just one title to his name before 2022, has since added a staggering 11 titles to his ever-growing collection. Two of these titles are Grand Slams – the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Wimbledon Championships – and four others are Masters 1000s, won in Miami (2022), Indian Wells (2023), and Madrid (2022, 2023).

Following his triumph in Flushing Meadows, Alcaraz, aged 19 at the time, also made his World No. 1 debut, crushing Lleyton Hewitt’s record of being the youngest World No. 1 in ATP history.

Given his meteoric rise, Carlos Alcaraz’s participation fees have also witnessed a sharp upturn as per recent reports.

Ahead of the ATP 500 Erste Bank Open in Vienna next week, the DerStandard hinted that the 20-year-old wasn’t approached by the tournament since he reportedly charges at least €750,000 to participate, and the event’s organizer Herwig Straka prefers ‘density.’

The ATP 500 in Vienna is set to feature five of the top 10 players such as defending champion Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Alexander Zverev. Alcaraz, meanwhile, featured on the Swiss Indoors Basel entry list, which is to be held in the same week.

Several tennis fans were stunned by the revelation of Spaniard’s charges and shared their reactions on X.

“This is what happens when you elevate a player above the sport,” one fan said.

A few fans, however, sided with the two-time Grand Slam champion and deemed his charges reasonable. They pointed at the participation fees of other top players such at Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer, with one expressing a greater desire to watch the young Spaniard instead of Djokovic.

“He’s the exciting new player people want to watch. He can command what he likes and if they want a sell out tournament they’ll pay it! I’d rather watch him than Novak Djokovic who commands a lot more!” the fan said.