Saying you are an OnlyFans creator can often come with certain connotations but in recent years, the subscription service has become an increasingly visible presence in the world of tennis.
For those of you unaware: OnlyFans allows users to pay money to their favourite creators who will then produce content exclusively for their subscribers. The platform was started in 2016 in the UK but has grown rapidly and as a sign of its expansion, they paid over £100m in taxes to the UK government last year, bringing out some snobby comments who would rather their schools were funded by someone else.
The snobiness comes with the association surrounding the company with it initially being known for a different kind of love but in recent years, the world of sports, and tennis in particular, has been growing on the platform.
In December 2023, Nick Kyrgios – who is not afraid of making headlines – signed up, saying the company was “revolutionising social media” and he “wanted to be a part of that.”
Last year, WTA Tour player Sachia Vickery signed up. The reason behind her decision was a shoulder injury that sidelined her for six months and the finances of tennis being what they are meant her income came to a sudden halt.
Tennis, as with other individual sports, sees the athletes rely on prize money rather than a salary and while the very top players do not need to be too concerned about the ones and zeros, those lower down the rankings sometimes find their winnings don’t come to much once coaches have been paid and taxes taken.
OnlyFans then was a way for Vickery to make some money while she was stuck away from the court.
She is not alone either. In March, Chloe Paquet joined and in May, the self-dubbed “sexiest professional tennis player” Alexandre Muller signed up, saying that he expects many of his colleagues to join him.
One of the latest names to sign up is world No.52 Pedro Martinez who spoke with Tennis365 about why he decided to join.
“A couple of months ago, I spoke with my manager and he told me it was a possibility to change the platform, to connect more with the fans, and I think it was attractive to just try to sell the content and don’t give it all for free on social media,” he said.
“So we thought about it. I talked to one of my team to record a couple of videos, and then I shared them there.”
But before you get your hopes up, topless photos seem to be reserved for Muller with Martinez instead showing fans what it takes to be a tennis player away from the matches.
“I’ve been sharing some exercises that I can do in the gym that I cannot post all on Instagram,” he said from Spain as he prepared for his country’s Davis Cup qualifiers.
“If I have a good practice, maybe just something that I normally don’t post on other platforms like Instagram or Twitter, and then I share it through there. Or maybe I had a good practice with some videos on Roland Garros or on Centre Court. So I think that’s something that you cannot see on Instagram.
“Now I have a lot of pictures from the Davis Cup so I’m putting this kind of content out that people can be closer to me and to get to know me more.”
With career prize money north of $5m, Martinez is not short of a dollar or two but he said that extra income is always handy when the costs begin to stack up.
“Tennis is pretty expensive, but now the earnings are bigger than what they used to be like 10 years ago. So I’m earning a decent amount of money, but you know, it’s always good to make something extra because it’s a really expensive sport, because you have to pay everything for yourself.
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“You have to pay your coach. You have to pay your fitness coaches. You have to pay your physio. You have to pay all the expenses of all of them traveling around the world – hotels, flights, meals and if you want to fly with your family, you have to take care of expenses as well.
“You are always wasting money but it is what it is. In Spain, we say you have to try to put more in than you let go out more.”
With Kyrgios down in the 600s, Martinez along with Muller, are the highest-ranked male players on the platform and while it remains to be seen if the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner may ever join, the Spaniard pointed to other sports as an example of where the top-level players sign up.
“Let’s see in the future,” he said of his colleagues potentially joining. “Now we have Alex Muller, Kyrgios, Chloe Paquet,” the 28-year-old said. “I think I saw other sports players getting into OnlyFans.
“And now, with Charles Oliveira joining the platform as well, I follow a lot of MMA and you can maybe find something if you really like MMA about stuff you cannot see on any other platform so you can follow through there.
“So I think it’s a platform that is going to keep growing.”
Read next: Why Carlos Alcaraz could break a Novak Djokovic prize money record in 2025
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