Tennis stars on collision course with Grand Slams over reforms
Leading tennis players including Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka are understood to be unhappy with the Grand Slams about a lack of progress over welfare, prize money and consultation reforms.
The top 10 players from the men’s ATP and women’s WTA tours have been in discussions with Wimbledon, the French Open, the US Open and the Australian Open for six months in a bid to secure concessions in three key areas from the four Slams.
They have asked the Slams to increase prize money to a percentage of revenue in line with big ATP and WTA events, begin making financial contributions to player welfare benefits such as healthcare and pensions, and to consult a player council on any planned changes.
Slam bosses are understood to have rebuffed further talks at the US Open in recent weeks and told players that they are not willing to make changes until discussions over a proposed “Premium Tour” and its effect on the calendar have been resolved.
That has left stars nonplussed and there is an expectation that some will voice their unhappiness in the coming weeks. They are understood to feel there is no reason why the Slams could not implement their requests now, rather than waiting for wider reform of the tours that has already been years in the making to be finalised.
Slams facing player battle on two fronts
It comes after the Professional Tennis Players Association co-founded by Novak Djokovic this week added the Grand Slams to an unconnected lawsuit it is bringing against the ATP and WTA tours in US courts.
Djokovic was among the signatories to a letter sent in March by the ATP and WTA top 10 players – including Sinner, Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff – to the Slams which set out their areas of concern.
After discussions at the French Open in May and Wimbledon weeks later, the players – this time minus Djokovic but with newcomers to the ATP and WTA top 10s – wrote again to the Slams in August with a set of proposals.
They include Slams increasing the percentage of their revenue allocated to prize money from around 14 per cent to 22 per cent over a five-year period; establishing a mechanism to contribute to player pensions, healthcare, maternity pay and education plans; and consulting player representatives before making changes to tournaments.
By contrast, the ATP and WTA contribute around $80m annually to welfare benefits, while players feel they did not get a chance to have their say before innovations such as Sunday starts and final-set tie-breaks were brought in.