Some players feel that's too low when compared with other major sports, golf included. On Thursday, Kafelnikov described prize money in tennis as ''ridiculous'' and said golfers at a low-level PGA tournament in the United States get about 10 times as much as players in a similar tennis competition. Jeff Tarango, No. 92 in the world, shares Kafelnikov's view. In an article in an Australian newspaper earlier this week, he said grassroots tennis would benefit if early losers got bigger payoffs. He also said the big sports leagues in North America earmark a much higher percentage of gross revenues to players compared to the tennis world.
Tennis officials say they spend a lot of money on facilities and developing young talent.
I'd be hard pressed ever to spend time with a person who thinks making hundreds of thousands of dollars is not enough money,'' said Agassi, who earned a fourth-round berth after David Prinosil pulled out of their match Friday because of heat exhaustion. It rubs me the wrong way.