Sergiy Stakhovsky revealed in the book «The Roger Federer Effect» that the Swiss tennis legend played a major role in getting prize money increases for players. In 2013, Stakhovsky stunned Federer at the All England Club.
At the time, both Stakhovsky and Federer were members of the ATP Player Council. The Roger Federer Effect, a book that was published by British writer Simon Cambers and Swiss writer Simon Graf, details the moment when players got bigger prize money at the Grand Slams in 2013.
This month, the ATP announced a record increase of $37.5 million in prize money for 2023; the increase now brings total compensation to $217.9 million.
Stakhovsky admits that having Federer as a negotiator was probably the key
“It was extremely good to have him because it is one thing to have a Sergiy Stakhovsky or a Gilles Simon on the Council, and another when you have Roger Federer.
It makes a world of difference when you are negotiating or making a case. He was instrumental in terms of prize money increases. We’ve been looking at this issue for a number of years, we’ve had a pretty rough time of it, and we’ve had a very good, strong track record of players willing to do something about it.
And yet, if it hadn’t been for Roger and Rafa [Nadal]I doubt we could have pushed it. I remember Roger called us and said we had the great [rise], then we understood why we got it. He got the deal because he said: ‘We can do the deal now, or you can go and talk to Gilles Simon and Sergiy Stakhovsky.’
It was a bit of fun,» Stakhovsky told Simon Cambers and Simon Graf, quoted on Tennis Majors. Stakhovsky, 36, last played in January, when he suffered a loss in the first qualifying round of the Australian Open. On another side, 41-year-old Federer retired from professional tennis after this year’s Laver Cup.
