The Professional Tennis Players Association said the row over French Open prize money shows why it is challenging the way tennis is run and warned that, without structural reform, the sport will remain trapped in repeated disputes and incremental change.
Leading players, including Aryna Sabalenka, have pushed French Open organisers for a bigger share of the revenues, with the tournament’s prize purse of 61.7 million euros ($72.32 million) still trailing the other three Grand Slams despite a 9.5% increase for 2026.
In a statement this week, players expressed their “deep disappointment” and said a boycott was possible if the gap with the Australian Open, the US Open and Wimbledon was not closed.
“We commend and fully support the players for stepping up and fighting for what they deserve: a fair share of the revenues they help create,” the PTPA said in a statement to Reuters. “There are deep structural changes desperately needed in tennis.”
The gap in prize money remains clear across the majors. The Australian Open offered an increased prize pool of A$111.5 million ($80.61 million) in January, while the US Open paid out $90 million and Wimbledon 53.5 million pounds ($72.55 million) in 2025. Reuters has sought comment from French Open organisers. The tournament begins on May 24.
The French Open said last month it had committed to supporting the qualifying tournament and the early rounds of the main draw with larger increases, saying those players needed the money most to finance their seasons. Grand Slams operate under financial models different from the ATP and WTA Tours, with prize money set independently rather than through a centralised system.
Sabalenka said players put the spotlight on the sport’s biggest tournaments and backed calls for a 22% allocation, in line with what the ATP and WTA offer at combined 1000-level events. “I feel like the show is on us,” the four-time Grand Slam champion said in Rome ahead of this week’s Italian Open. “I feel like without us there wouldn’t be a tournament and there wouldn’t be that entertainment. We definitely deserve to be paid more.”
While the latest stand-off has been led by the sport’s biggest names, players lower down the rankings have long said prize money structures affect their ability to cover travel, coaching and medical costs across an 11-month calendar. Players also said this week that their welfare proposals had gone unanswered and that there had been no meaningful progress towards fair representation in Grand Slam decision-making.
The PTPA said those complaints reflected issues already under legal scrutiny in a class-action lawsuit filed last year. The organisation was co-founded in 2020 by Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil, with the stated aim of being the voice of the players and a catalyst for change.
“Tennis is falling behind other global sports on every meaningful metric because of its structure,” the PTPA said. “Until that is addressed directly and comprehensively, progress will remain incremental, and players will remain stuck in the same cycle, pushing for more prize money season after season. That is exactly what the PTPA and the lawsuit against the Grand Slams and the ATP and WTA Tours are designed to change.”
The dispute over French Open prize money has therefore widened into a broader argument about how the game is governed, how revenues are shared and how much say players have in decisions that shape the sport.
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