Stefanos Tsitsipas is doing his part to help struggling tennis players during the coronavirus crisis.
The 21-year-old joined forces with Patrick Mouratoglou, the coach of Serena Williams, to launch 'Beyond 100 Support,' an auction platform destined, as its name implies, to support players beyond the top 100, both in the ATP and WTA rankings. The concern for unity between both tours appeared more fundamental than ever.
"As the youngest player in the top 10, I feel responsible to help the future of tennis. I understand how critical it is for the sustainability of both ATP and WTA players ranked beyond the top 100 and how difficult it is to make a living from professional tennis, especially with no tennis events going on for an undefined period of time. Through the creation of 'Beyond 100 Support', I hope to start a movement that my fellow players will follow suit," Greece's tennis star stated.
Let’s support our sport together. https://t.co/ppROGj8eXy pic.twitter.com/6IIvJ2OpFn
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) April 23, 2020
"The situation of players ranked beyond the top 100 is becoming more and more worrying as they might not be able to pursue their careers — their passions — if the current health crisis were to last for too long. “Beyond 100 Support” emerged as a much-needed initiative to improve the conditions of those players in the immediate term, and gives us more time to build a solution for the long term," said Patrick Mouratoglou.
Through the Beyond 100 support website, users are able to donate or bid for an item or packages up for auction.
*HINT: One of the items up for auction is the famous tennis racquet Tsitsipas cracked at the ATP Cup earlier this year (during the match between Nick Kyrgios) ... you better be quick, it may 'accidentally' fly out the door!
