Aryna Sabalenka abruptly concluded her French Open press conference on Friday, as a significant group of leading tennis players staged a coordinated protest against the tournament organisers.
The action underscores growing discontent among athletes regarding prize money distribution and player welfare.
A collective of 20 players, including world number ones Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner, has been advocating for a greater share of Grand Slam revenue to be allocated as prize money.
Their demands extend to increased investment in welfare programmes, such as pension contributions, and a stronger voice in decision-making processes.
Following an initial letter sent to the four Grand Slams last spring, the group issued a statement earlier this month expressing profound dissatisfaction specifically with the French Open.
This culminated in Friday’s protest during the tournament’s preview media day, where players limited their media engagements to 15 minutes. This comprised a 10-minute press conference and a five-minute interview with the host broadcaster, with additional TV, radio, or social media content for the tournament being declined.
The 15-minute time limit was chosen to symbolise the approximate 15 per cent of revenue currently awarded as prize money by the French Open, a figure significantly below the players’ target of 22 per cent.
This year, the prize fund has seen a 9.5 per cent increase year-on-year, reaching 61.7 million euros (approximately £53 million), with singles champions each set to receive 2.8 million euros (approximately £2.4 million).
Sabalenka, who had previously suggested players might need to boycott a Grand Slam to achieve their objectives, reiterated her stance in Paris.
“I stand with my words,” she declared. “We wanted to do it in a respectful way at the beginning, and you guys know how much we respect you and we appreciate you. It’s not about you. It’s just we are trying to fight for a fair percentage.”
The Belarusian then abruptly ended the English portion of her press conference, stating: “Now it’s time for national language. Thank you so much for being here, for asking questions.”
Four-time champion Iga Swiatek, another signatory to the players’ demands, commented on the protest: “We will do more when the tournament will do more for us.”
In response, tournament organisers released a statement this week expressing “regret” over the players’ actions but stressed their willingness to engage, confirming a meeting was scheduled for Friday with player representatives. Wimbledon officials are closely monitoring developments and plan to hold a similar meeting in Paris next week, ahead of their own prize money announcement next month.
TNT Sports, the UK broadcaster for the French Open, declined to comment when approached, though broadcasters generally believe the protest will be confined to a single day of action.
The immediate question now revolves around the next steps, particularly in light of Sabalenka’s call for a boycott, which has caused apprehension among some players.
American Taylor Fritz expressed caution: “I don’t know if I want to start throwing around the ‘B’ word. It’s a really big deal, and I don’t think we as players should really make big threats like that unless we’re fully ready to do it. I think that’s a discussion we need to have and we need to see what the potential ramifications for doing that are.”
Jannik Sinner, however, believes there is sufficient unity among players to prevent the issue from being sidelined. “It takes all players, and players are very connected and we are all very much together,” he affirmed.
“As I also said in Rome, it’s about the respect, and when we have to wait for over a year for just a small response, it’s not nice. So let’s see where we go. Let’s see also how other grand slams are going to react after here, and then we’re going to decide.”
Notably, Novak Djokovic, a long-time advocate for increasing income at lower levels of the sport and founder of the Professional Tennis Players’ Association, is not part of this specific group and did not limit his media activity.
He urged the sport to unite and avoid the divisions seen in golf with the splinter LIV tour.
“Let’s learn from that,” he said. “Let’s try to be a bit more united and have a unifying voice into finding a better structure and a better future for our sport, because now is the right time.”
