The Professional Tennis Players Association said the row over French Open prize money shows precisely why it is challenging the way tennis is run, warning that without reform the sport will be stuck in cycles of disputes and incremental change.
Leading players have sought a bigger share of the pie from French Open organisers, whose prize purse of 61.7 million euros ($72.32 million) lags well behind the other three Grand Slams despite a 9.5% increase for 2026.
Aryna Sabalenka and other leading players expressed their “deep disappointment” to organisers in a statement this week and have said a boycott is possible if the gap is not closed to the Australian Open, the US Open and Wimbledon.
“We commend and fully support the players for stepping up and fighting for what they deserve: a fair share of the revenues they help create,” the PTPA advocacy group said in a statement to Reuters.
“There are deep structural changes desperately needed in tennis.”
The Australian Open offered an improved prize pot of A$111.5 million ($80.61 million) in January while the U.S. Open paid out $90 million and Wimbledon 53.5 million pounds ($72.55 million) in 2025.
Reuters has sought comment from the organisers of the French Open, which begins on May 24.
The tournament said last month that it had committed to supporting the qualifying tournament and early rounds of the main draw with bigger prize money increases to help those players who needed it the most to finance their season.
Grand Slams operate under different financial models from
the ATP and WTA Tours, with prize money set independently rather
than through a centralised framework.
Sabalenka said players undoubtedly put the spotlight on the
sport’s biggest tournaments and deserved a greater share of the
revenues, backing calls for a 22% allocation in line with what
the ATP and WTA offer at combined 1000-level events.
“I feel like the show is on us,” the four-times Grand Slam
champion said in Rome ahead of this week’s Italian Open.
“I feel like without us there wouldn’t be a tournament and
there wouldn’t be that entertainment. We definitely deserve to
be paid more.”
While the latest standoff has been driven by leading names,
players in the lower rungs have long maintained that prize money
structures affect their ability to cover travel, coaching and
medical costs across a crowded calendar that lasts 11 months.
It has also brought the focus on other pressing concerns,
with players saying this week that their welfare proposals had
gone unanswered and there was no meaningful progress towards
fair representation in Grand Slam decision-making.
The grievances mirror issues under legal scrutiny in a
class-action lawsuit filed last year by the PTPA, co-founded in
2020 by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil with the intention of
being the voice of the players and the catalyst for change.
“Tennis is falling behind other global sports on every
meaningful metric because of its structure,” the PTPA added.
“Until that is addressed directly and comprehensively,
progress will remain incremental, and players will remain stuck
in the same cycle, pushing for more prize money season after
season.
“That is exactly what the PTPA and the lawsuit against the
Grand Slams and the ATP and WTA Tours are designed to change.”
Source: Khaleej Times