Aryna Sabalenka, the WTA’s No. 1-ranked player in the world, believes that tennis players are more than deserving of larger shares of tournament revenues, and she’s prepared to go to drastic measures to fight for them.
“Without us there wouldn’t be a tournament and there wouldn’t be that entertainment. I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage,” Sabalenka said on Tuesday at the Italian Open, per ESPN.
“I think at some point we will boycott it. I feel like that’s going to be the only way to fight for our rights.”
“With estimated revenues of over 400 million euros for this year’s tournament, prize money as a percentage of revenue will likely still be less than 15%, far short of the 22% that players have requested to bring the Grand Slams into line with the ATP and WTA Combined 1000 events,” the players said in a statement.
It’s not just increased revenues that the players are looking for. They’re also calling for better representation, health options, and pensions from the four Grand Slam tournaments: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open.
Italian Jasmine Paolini, who reached the final of the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024, is also entertaining the idea of a boycott.
“If we’re all in agreement, and I think we are — the men and the women are united right now — it’s something we could do,” Paolini said.
“There’s a lot of things that the Slams are not doing,” she added, “that the WTA and I think the ATP are doing.”
The 2026 French Open begins on May 24.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.