Tennis stars Sinner, Draper and Sabalenka turn up heat on Grand Slams
Tennis stars including Jannik Sinner, Britain’s Jack Draper and Aryna Sabalenka have turned up the pressure on Grand Slam chiefs to agree to prize money increases and other reforms.
Most of the top 10 from the men’s ATP and women’s WTA rankings are lobbying the Slams to raise the proportion of tournament revenue allocated to prize money, increase welfare contributions and create a player council to give them more say in how the sport’s biggest events are run.
Its most famous names this week leveraged their huge audiences on social media to amplify a post explaining their demands.
Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner, Draper, women’s top-five players Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula all shared it with their followers, while world No1 Sabalenka supported it with comments. Other stars to amplify it included Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur.
The pressure comes as Roland Garros mulls its response to the lobbying. French Open organisers are due to release details of the prize money on offer at this year’s tournament next month, while the All England Club is also considering its next move for Wimbledon.
What are tennis stars asking of Grand Slams?
At the heart of the players’ argument is that the Grand Slams have fallen far behind the main tour events in both prize money and other welfare benefits, such as pension and injury contributions. While ATP and WTA 1000 events pay 22 per cent of revenue to players, that figure is roughly 16 per cent at the four Slams.
The calls have taken place against the backdrop of long-running uncertainty around the professional game and its ever-expanding calendar.
Slam bosses rebuffed talks at the US Open last year and told players that they were unwilling to make changes until discussions over a proposed “Premium Tour” and its effect on the calendar had been resolved.
That left stars nonplussed, with Sinner telling the Guardian in October: “We had good conversations with the Grand Slams at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, so it was disappointing when they said they cannot act on our proposals until other issues are resolved.
“Calendar and scheduling are important topics, but there is nothing stopping the Slams from addressing player welfare benefits like pensions and healthcare right now.
“The Grand Slams are the biggest events and generate most of the revenue in tennis, so we are asking for a fair contribution to support all players, and for prize money that better reflects what these tournaments earn.
“We want to work together with the Slams to find solutions that are good for everyone in tennis.”