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maltatoday WEDNESDAY 17 JANUARY 2018 Sport 22 TENNIS Djokovic dismisses talk of boycott over prize money SIXTIMES Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has distanced himself from re- ports that he called for a boy- cott of next year's tournament unless there was an increase in prize money. Media reports said the 30-year-old Serb, who is presi- dent of the Players' Council, was pushing for a revolt over the way revenues from the four grand slams were distributed. The reports also suggested he had demanded officials from the Association of Tennis Pro- fessionals (ATP), which runs the men's Tour but not the grand slams, and Tennis Aus- tralia leave a players' meeting on Friday. After his easy victory over American Donald Young on Tuesday, however, Djokovic set the record straight. "No boycott, no," the former world number one replied when asked if he had threat- ened one. "Not much of what you have wrote is true. What happened is that we, players, just wanted to have us players talk about certain topics. I don't think there is anything unhealthy about that. This is one of the places where we get together. "We wanted to use this op- portunity to speak about cer- tain subjects and see how eve- ryone reacts to that, see what opinions are. There was no decisions being made. "There was no talks about boycott or anything like that." Djokovic, who has won 12 grand slam singles titles, also denied that ATP officials had been thrown out of the players' meeting or that a lawyer had been present. "Everything was done in a very normal, polite way," he said. "Players wanted to stay alone. There were 100 players in the room. We talked about things that we talked about. That's all." The reports said the play- ers had also discussed creat- ing a union, independent of the ATP, to represent their concerns and push for greater prize money. The ATP, established in 1972, is owned jointly by the tourna- ments and the players. Djokovic said there had been no discussion about player un- ions, though American former world number one Andy Rod- dick took to social media to support the idea. "It's been a good idea for a long time:)" he said on Twit- ter. "Impossible for an entity to represent both sides of a ne- gotiation. I'm amazed it's not talked about more .." Players at the Australian Open have been reluctant to talk about the issue but Players' Council vice-president Kevin Anderson confirmed that dis- cussions about prize money had taken place, with the focus on helping lower-ranked play- ers make a better living. "The top guys aren't out for how they can squeeze more money for themselves," South African Anderson was quoted as saying in various media re- ports. "Obviously they've had very lucrative careers. Now if you are top 100 you are mak- ing a good living. I think we want to push that to the (top) 150, 200." Prize money in the grand slams has increased drastically in recent years. Wimbledon's total fund has nearly doubled in the last five years, rising from 16.06 million pounds to 31.6 million pounds ($43.59 million) in 2017, although the percentage rises have been greatest for early-round losers. The Australian Open prize money increased by 10 per- cent this year to A$55 million ($43.82 million) with the win- ners of the men's and women's singles titles pocketing A$4 million. Prize money on the ATP Tour has risen 113 percent over the last 10 years. "Everybody's trying to do their best," Djokovic said. "I mean, we are here at the Aus- tralian Open, and they always try to compensate the players in a best possible way. "(Tournament director) Craig Tiley is always trying to accommodate players to make them feel like at home, make them feel respected and val- ued. "Things are going in the right direction." Novak Djokovic Williams confirm Sirotkin for 2018 seat WILLIAMS have announced that Sergey Sirotkin will part- ner Lance Stroll for the 2018 campaign, with Robert Kubi- ca, on the comeback trail after sustaining serious injuries in a rally crash, missing out. Russian racer Sirotkin, 22, impressed Williams with his performance at the post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tyre test, where he ran alongside Ku- bica. Sirotkin placed third overall in GP2 in 2015 and 2016, and acted as a test driver for Re- nault in 2017, making several practice appearances. "To say I'm happy and proud to join such a famous team like Williams is an understate- ment," said Sirotkin. "It took a huge amount of work to get where I am, and I'm really happy and thankful to everyone involved. "The result of our combined efforts has helped me achieve my dream, and rest assured the team can rely on me to de- liver my best." Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams added: "After an extensive driver evaluation process, I am thrilled to have our 2018 line-up finalised, and I'm excited to see what next season brings. "We have taken our time to evaluate all the available op- tions, and I'm confident Lance and Sergey can deliver the best results for the team. "The Williams philosophy has always been to promote and develop young talent and Sergey fits right into that ethos. "Lance has had a record- breaking debut season, and with a year now under his belt, he will be ready to hit the ground running in 2018. "We have a talented driver line-up for 2018, that we are confident will deliver some ex- citing results for the team." Kubica, 33, had been push- ing for a full-time return after several test runs with Renault and Williams, but ultimately missed out on a 2018 seat. He will, though, act as Wil- liams' reserve and develop- ment driver in the new season.