The young tennis player hit a gold mine, but the place to study prevented him from getting rich.
Tennis promise Fiona Crawley lost the jackpot because of school. ZumaWire / MVPHOTOS
A 21-year-old tennis player from the United States Fiona Crawley stumbled upon an unfair-sounding rule section. The rising tennis talent studying in his home country of North Carolina reached the US Open tennis tournament as the first tennis player from his school.
After qualifying for the major tournament, Crawley and the other players secured a total of $81,000 in prize money. However, he will not see the entire amount, because as a university athlete in the United States, he is not allowed to earn more than ten thousand dollars a year from sports.
The law in force in the United States does not apply to American football or basketball student athletes. Crawley could lose his place as a student if he accepted the money. The tennis player feels the situation is unfair.
– I could never accept money and risk my studies. But I’ve been up in the mud this week. “It seems unbelievable that football and basketball players get contracts worth millions, but I don’t get to take the money I worked so hard for,” Crawley told the News & Observer news site.
Playing in the number one competition in the country was a dream come true for the young woman, even though she won’t get the big check this time.
– I have dreamed of this for so long. I learned about the US Open when I was five years old. When the last qualifying game ended, I was in shock. I don’t think I’ll be able to grasp this until I serve my first serve in my first match, Crawley said after the qualifying match.
Crawley faced in the opening round of the US Open Anastasija Pavlyuchenkova. The Russian beat him directly in two sets 6–2, 6–4.