Top players led by Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff are pressing Grand Slam organizers for a larger share of tournament revenue, and the argument sharpened again this week as the French Open confirmed a rise in prize money for 2026.
The prize fund for the 2026 French Open will total $72.3 million, up 9.5% from last year, but players say that still amounts to just 14.9% of projected gross revenue, down from 15.5% the previous year. The same group of players said they want 22% of gross revenue at the four Grand Slam events and have warned that a future boycott is not off the table if talks go nowhere.
Sabalenka, the No. 1-ranked player, Sinner and Gauff released a joint statement in early May that was also signed by a number of other top-10 players. They have now repeated the same message in public: the dispute is not only about bigger cheques, but about how the sport values the players who drive its biggest stages.
Sinner put it bluntly at the Italian Open, saying the issue was about respect and that players do not feel respected. He said players give more than they get back, and that the concern is not only for the top names but for everyone on the tour. Sabalenka struck a similar note at a news conference before the French Open, saying the show is on the players and that, without them, there would be no tournament and no entertainment. She added that players deserve a larger percentage of revenue.
The latest comments land after the same group sent two letters in 2025 to the major tournaments calling for increased revenue sharing and other reforms. Those letters also asked for a stronger voice in decision-making, along with changes tied to long-term health and pensions. The players say no meaningful change has happened yet, which is why the public pressure has continued to build.
The money gap they are pointing to is wider than tennis alone. In the NBA, NFL and MLB, players receive around 50% of league revenue under their most recent collective bargaining agreements. WNBA players now receive 20% of league revenue under a landmark agreement completed this spring. Tennis, by contrast, has no collective bargaining structure in the same form because players are independent contractors and Grand Slams each run under their own leadership and rules, with the ATP and WTA operating separately.
That structure has left players trying to push for change one tournament at a time, from the Australian Open to Wimbledon and the US Open. The French Open’s prize-money increase gives organizers an easy talking point, but it does not resolve the core complaint. Players want a bigger slice, a stronger voice and a system that looks, to them, more like the modern value of the sport they say they help create.
For now, the standoff is headed into another major tournament with no sign that either side is backing away.
