Leading tennis players including Djokovic and Sabalenka unhappy with French Open prize money

A group of the world’s top 20 male and female players, including Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, have released a joint statement expressing their disappointment at the level of prize money on offer at the French Open later this month.

The top players have been in dispute with all four grand slams for more than a year, as they feel they are given an insufficient share of each tournament’s increasing revenues, while they are also calling for enhanced welfare and pension provisions and a greater say in determining the schedule.

The French Open last month announced a 9.5% increase in the prize money at Roland Garros to €61.7m (£52.6m), with the men’s and women’s winners to receive €2.8m, but the players remain unhappy.

The increase is significantly less than the 20% rise at the US Open last year, while the players claim that, as a percentage of revenues, the prize fund is being reduced.

“Roland Garros generated €395m in revenue in 2025, a 14% year-on-year increase, yet prize money rose by only 5.4%, reducing players’ share of revenue to 14.3%,” they said in a statement.

“With estimated revenues of more than €400m 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 tours. As Roland Garros looks to post record revenues, players are therefore receiving a declining share of the value they help create.

“More critically, the announcement does nothing to address the structural issues that players have consistently and reasonably raised over the past year. There has been no engagement on player welfare and no progress towards establishing a formal mechanism for player consultation within grand-slam decision making.

“The grand slams remain resistant to change. The absence of player consultation and the continued lack of investment in player welfare reflect a system that does not adequately represent the interests of those who are central to the sport’s success.”

Having issued a collective statement a number of players, including the Americans Ben Shelton and Jessica Pegula, are expected to make further criticisms of the grand slams at the Italian Open, which starts in Rome this week.