Published On 22 May 202622 May 2026<\/p>\n
A simmering dispute between players \u2060and the Grand Slams over revenue sharing intensified at the French Open, with Novak Djokovic warning the sport risked further fragmentation as leading players pressed for a greater voice in shaping its future.<\/p>\n
Several players were expected to limit their appearances at Friday\u2019s traditional pre-tournament media \u2060day to 15 minutes, and to not conduct any additional multi-media interviews.<\/p>\n
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The tensions have been building for weeks, but the rhetoric sharpened in Paris, where players, such as Taylor Fritz, insisted that their grievances were not just about \u201cwanting more money\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about just wanting what\u2019s fair,\u201d the American added.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the tournaments make more money, we obviously want to see the revenue \u2060shared back to the players reflect that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players have pointed to pensions, tournament expansion, scheduling and late-night finishes among the issues fuelling frustration, alongside what several described as a persistent lack of dialogue from organisers.<\/p>\n
Russian Andrey Rublev painted a picture of a widening disconnect between players and the sport\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you try to communicate for so many years \u2026 they don\u2019t hear you. They don\u2019t answer,\u201d Rublev said. \u201cWhen you send the mail in, no one responds to official mail for months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rublev said the issue was not simply financial, but structural.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more about are we together, \u200cand we try to do something together to grow the sport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
World number one Aryna Sabalenka cast the debate as a struggle on behalf of the sport\u2019s lesser lights rather than its leading stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about me. It\u2019s about the players who\u2019s lower in the ranking, who is suffering,\u201d she said. \u201cBut as the world number one, I feel like I have to stand up and to fight for those players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t mention the \u2018B\u2019 word<\/p>\n
Even so, players adopted a more cautious tone over the prospect of a boycott after Sabalenka raised the possibility earlier this month in Rome.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if I want to start throwing around the \u2018B\u2019 word,\u201d Fritz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really big deal, and I don\u2019t think we as players should really make big threats like that unless we\u2019re fully ready to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek also stopped \u2060short of endorsing drastic action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think doing something that is not constructive will make sense,\u201d the four-time French Open winner said. \u201cBut \u2060we want to push a bit more to get what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic said he was not personally involved in the planned 15-minute media action, but aligned himself with many of the players\u2019 broader concerns while warning against further division in the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always been on the players\u2019 side and tried to advocate for players\u2019 rights and better future for players, but not only top players,\u201d the 24-time Grand \u2060Slam champion said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tend to forget how little is the number of people that live from this sport.\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic said the lower tiers of professional tennis were essential to the game\u2019s long-term health and called for greater unity between governing bodies, tournaments and players.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrand Slams, \u2060governing bodies, the governing tours, everyone. We are very fragmented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the further fragmentation is really hurting \u2060me personally. I really don\u2019t like to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Serbian also pointed to golf and the divisions caused by the emergence of LIV Golf as a warning for tennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s learn from that. Let\u2019s try to be a bit more united and have a unifying voice into finding better structure and better future for our sport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While top ATP and WTA events redistribute around 22 percent of revenues to players, the Grand Slams are estimated \u200cto return closer to 15 percent, a gap that has become a central source of tension.<\/p>\n
French Open organisers have been arguing that tournament profits fund entire national tennis ecosystems, not just prize money.<\/p>\n
They are expected to meet player agents on Friday as discussions continue over revenue sharing and player representation.<\/p>\n
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said she regretted the prospect of \u200creduced \u200cmedia access at the start of the claycourt Grand Slam.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always regrettable because media day is an important moment for the tournament, for journalists who come from all over the world and also for the fans through the media coverage,\u201d Mauresmo told reporters on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand that there are discussions and concerns from the players, but dialogue is always preferable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published On 22 May 202622 May 2026 A simmering dispute between players \u2060and the Grand Slams over revenue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":687001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,3456,637,44,457,82,593],"class_list":["post-687000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-europe","tag-france","tag-news","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/687001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}