
Aryna Sabalenka has suggested a potential boycott of Grand Slam tournaments over inadequate prize money, prompting a response from Novak Djokovic. Both players, along with others, criticized the prize money for the upcoming French Open.
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Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one in womenâs tennis, has hinted that players may consider boycotting Grand Slams if prize money doesnât increase.
Sabalenka and menâs top-ranked player Jannik Sinner were among several stars who released a statement on Monday criticising the prize money on offer at the upcoming French Open.
Last month, it was announced that Roland Garros would raise its total prize fund by 10% to ÂŁ53.5 million, which is an increase of ÂŁ4.6 million from 2025.
The players argue that this increase doesnât reflect their true share of tournament revenue, which they claim has dropped from 15.5% to a projected 14.9% for the 2026 event.
Coco Gauff said she could see players joining a boycott, while four-time champion Iga Swiatek described it as âa bit extremeâ.
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Sabalenkaâs comments were put to Djokovic ahead of the Italian Open, and he was quick to throw his support behind her stance.
He said: âI think youâve been around the tour long enough to I think remember the times when I was a president of the council, when I was also forming PTPA, which is now six years ago.
âSo you guys know my position on that. Iâve said it many times. I donât need to talk about that too long.
Players know that theyâll always have my support, and thatâs all.
âThe new generations are coming up. Iâm glad that there is willingness from the leaders of our sport, like Sabalenka, to really step up and really understand the dynamics of how the tennis politics works and understand the nuances and really what needs to be done not only for her benefit and well-being, but for everyone.
Aryna Sabalenka hinted that players might consider boycotting Grand Slams if prize money does not increase.
Novak Djokovic rebuked Aryna Sabalenka's threat of a boycott in response to her concerns about prize money.
Men's top-ranked player Jannik Sinner also joined Aryna Sabalenka in criticizing the prize money for the upcoming French Open.
A boycott by top players could significantly impact the Grand Slam tournaments, affecting attendance, viewership, and overall tournament prestige.

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âThatâs a true leadership for me and I think she needs to maintain that. I salute that. Thatâs all I have to say about that.
âWeâre all part of the same sport. We all try to elevate the game, whether itâs players, tournaments, governing bodies.
âUnfortunately oftentimes there is a conflict of interest that some people donât want to address. I think thatâs where the players really have the power. Iâm always supportive of the stronger player position in the ecosystem.â
On Thursday raised concerns over compensation across tennisâ top events as she prepared for Rome this week.
Speaking to the media before the Italian Open, Djokovic was asked for his thoughts on Sabalenkaâs remarks.
He replied: âNow is the time to talk about it. I do like the fact that there is more conversations happening on this. It needs to be because playersâ position is not where it needs to be with slams, with tours. Just overall itâs not there.
âHence the reason why I co-founded the players association, PTPA. That was my kind of search for more profound, meaningful solution a little bit outside of a system because the system is set up in such way that it just doesnât benefit players across all fields.
âYou know, also in the past what I notice is many times people would twist particularly my words and say Iâm requesting myself for more money, even when I was winning slams. You guys like to put headlines of the Grand Slam winner gets so-and-so, never more in history.
âBut we are not talking about the lower-ranked players, the tier one, the ground base level of the tennis players that are struggling. Theyâre leaving tennis because of no funding.
âWe are, I think, the only global sport, if you see all the global sports, I think weâre the only ones that are in this particular situation where we donât have a certain financial, say, gains or guarantees for the lower-ranked players. I donât know if it changed since whatever, a few years.
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