Aryna Sabalenka: Players could boycott grand slams over prize money dispute
Sabalenka said the share of prize money is ‘really unfair to the players’ as the group of leading stars continues to push for ‘positive change’
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka said top players could boycott grand slam tournaments if their demands for increased prize money and a greater share of event revenues are not listened to. It comes as leading players from the men’s and women’s top 10 expressed their “deep and collective disappointment” at the prize money on offer at this year’s Roland Garros in a statement released over the weekend. The group, which includes Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz , Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff , also want more consultation with the grand slams around matters such as scheduling and for them to start contributing to a player welfare fund.
According to the group, their share of the overall revenue generated by Roland Garros is projected to decline to 14. 3 per cent this year. Players are pushing for that figure to be closer to the 22 per cent received at mixed events on the ATP and WTA Tours with equal prize money, such as Indian Wells and this month’s Italian Open.
When asked how far players might push to get their desired changes, Sabalenka told reporters at the Italian Open: “I think at some point we will boycott it, yeah. I feel like that's going to be the only way to fight for our rights. “Let's see how far we can get, if it's going to take players for boycott...
Some of the things, I feel like it's really unfair to the players. I think at some point it's going to get to this. ” While French Open organisers have announced an increase of 9.