Jules Marie reveals the costs of a season on the circuit and addresses criticism from other French players
In 2022, Jules Marie took on the challenge of returning to the professional circuit. Through his YouTube channel, the Caen native allowed his community to follow all his adventures on the tour.
During his playing career (2012-2024), the Frenchman won 19 ITF Futures titles and participated in the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open (2024), Roland Garros (2013, 2015, and 2024), and Wimbledon (2024).
Now retired, the Frenchman has announced that he is focusing on new projects, including excelling in padel.
In an interview with Eurosport, the former world No. 203 reflects on his years on the circuit. He discusses the financial difficulties and the criticism he received from other French players:
"We launched a crowdfunding campaign to start the project, which raised 35,000 euros. Later, my brother contacted sponsors, including Celio.
In total, if you set everything up to make it work—with a full-time physio, a tennis coach, and travel—it comes to around 300,000 euros.
Looking back, I spent 180,000 euros a year, without a tennis coach because I didn’t have the budget, and without a physio or osteopath. So, if you added the costs for them, the total would reach 300,000 euros.
I was heavily criticized by other French players. They took snippets of what I said and posted them on Twitter. It created jealousy, but I think they didn’t fully understand the project. The other players focused solely on their tennis-based projects. I, on the other hand, had to pay five to six people every month, in addition to the tennis aspect.
A weekly coach costs 1,000 to 1,500 euros, including their room and meals. When I was around the 400th spot in the world rankings, people asked me why I didn’t hire a coach but instead a videographer. The original goal of the project was to show my community what I was doing.
When I moved up to the Challenger level, the cost of hotels was lower compared to Futures tournaments. But in Challenger tournaments, it’s harder to win matches, which means fewer opportunities to make videos and gain views.
As for YouTube, it wasn’t my main source of income. The videos brought in 2,500 euros a month, but I was spending between 8,000 and 13,000 euros."
