Mahesh Bhupathi reveals tennis stars' financial woes amid pandemic, hopes it'll pass soon

India's tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi spilled  beans on financial crunch faced by country's tennis stars &called for a proper plan to be in place to back m at times as such. With most of tournaments cancelled or deferred to a future date due to ongoing coronavirus crisis, most stars face a financial uncertainty - especially players who are ranked below 50. Speaking to a news daily, Mahesh Bhupathi revealed that over 85% of tennis players were going to struggle due to COVI-19 pandemic and its effects on tennis world. 

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're needs to be a plan'

Mahesh Bhupathi pointed out that most of tennis stars were on weekly ws and that tennis was an expensive sport which required a lot of spending. tennis ace said that big stars were also required to pay ir support staff, which too did t come cheap. Furr, tennis ace said that ATP and WTA need to come up with a plan to back players at times as such and cited Sumit Nagal's case, who according to Mahesh Bhupathi, had come down to $500 twice in recent past and that financial support was only reason that kept him going. Praying for pandemic to pass and situation to improve soon, Mahesh Bhupathi also said that game of juniors would also go for a 'toss' if y do t receive support from ir parents.

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Coronavirus in India

number of COVID-19 cases in country climbed to 2,902 on Saturday while death toll rose to 68, according to Union Health Ministry. number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 2,650, while 183 people were eir cured or discharged and one had migrated to ar country, it said.

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As per ministry's updated data on coronavirus cases Saturday morning, six fresh deaths were reported -- three from Maharashtra, two from Delhi and one from Gujarat. Thus, Maharashtra has reported most deaths (19) so far, followed by Gujarat (9),  Telangana (7), Madhya Pradesh (6), Delhi (6), Punjab (5), Karnataka (3), West Bengal (3), Jammu and Kashmir (2), Uttar Pradesh (2) and Kerala (2). Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have reported a death each. figure of 2,902 includes 55 foreign nationals.

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