3 min readFeb 3, 2026 02:09 PM IST
Share of the revenue and player welfare have long been a bone of contention in tennis and the world’s top ten men and women players have rejected an offer from three of the four Grand Slams to settle the dispute.
The French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open had offered to set up a player council to give them a greater say in the running of these marquee tournaments, but as The Guardian reported, the proposal was turned down.
“Before committing to another meeting, it would be more productive for the Grand Slams to provide substantive responses, individually or collectively, to the specific proposals the players have put forward regarding prize money at a fair share of grand slam revenues, and player health, welfare, and benefits contributions,” the letter sent to the organisers of the three Majors states.
The three Grand Slams had also proposed a meeting with the players at the Indian Wells tournament in March to discuss these issues.
At last year’s French Open, a delegation including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff has asked the four Majors – including the Australian Open – to get the prize money to 22 percent of tournament revenue by 2030, as is the case with regular ATP and WTA Tour events.
The recent Australian Open, which has the second-biggest prize pool among Grand Slams after the US Open, this figure stood at about 16 percent of the tournament income, according to The Guardian. At last year’s Wimbledon, it was 112.3 percent.
“While the players recognise that governance structures can play an important role, they are concerned that prioritising council formation over the core economic issues risks becoming a process discussion that delays rather than advances meaningful progress,” the letter added.
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The Australian Open is not part of the latest round of correspondence as it has sided with the Professional Tennis Players’ Association, which is suing the other three Grand Slam governing bodies in New York’s district court over alleged restrictive practices, the report said.
The disillusionment is especially evident among women players, who think that their concerns are not being adequately addressed. The issue of TV cameras in the warm-up and cool-down areas, without consultation, is a case in point. It resulted in the footage of Gauff smashing her racquet after her defeat to Elina Svitolina, in what was earlier a private place, going viral.
The announcement from Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley that they were looking at having best-of-five-sets women’s singles matches from the quarterfinals onwards has also caught the players unawares.
