PTPA says French Open prize money row highlights need for deeper reforms

PARIS – The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) said that the row over French Open prize money shows precisely why it is challenging the way tennis is run, warning that without reform the sport will be stuck in cycles of disputes and incremental change.

Leading players have sought a bigger share of the pie from French Open organisers, whose prize purse of €61.7 million (S$91.9 million) lags behind the other three Grand Slams despite a 9.5 per cent increase for 2026.

Women’s world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and other leading players expressed their “deep disappointment” to the organisers in a statement this week and have said a boycott is possible if the gap is not closed to the Australian Open, the US Open and Wimbledon.

“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 advocacy group said in a statement to Reuters.

“There are deep structural changes desperately needed in tennis.”

The Australian Open offered an improved prize pot of A$111.5 million (S$102.3 million) in January, while the US Open paid out US$90 million (S$113.9 million) and Wimbledon £53.5 million (S$92.3 million) in 2025.

Reuters has sought comment from the organisers of the French Open, which begins on May 24.

Roland Garros said in April that it had committed to supporting the qualifying tournament and early rounds of the main draw with bigger prize money increases to help those players who needed it the most to finance their season.

Grand Slams operate under different financial models from the ATP and WTA Tours, with prize money set independently rather than through a centralised framework.

Sabalenka, 28, said players are the ones who undoubtedly put the spotlight on the sport’s biggest tournaments and deserved a greater share of the revenues, backing calls for a 22 per cent 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.”

World No. 4 Coco Gauff has also said she could “100 per cent see” players boycotting a Grand Slam if they took the decision together as one and even suggested that players form a union to fight for their rights.

While the latest stand-off has been driven by leading names, players in the lower rungs have long maintained that prize money structures affect their ability to cover travel, coaching and medical costs across a crowded calendar that lasts 11 months.

It has also brought the focus on other pressing concerns, with players saying this week that their welfare proposals had gone unanswered and there was no meaningful progress towards fair representation in Grand Slam decision-making.

The grievances mirror issues under legal scrutiny in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2025 by the PTPA, launched in 2020 by co-founders Novak Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil with the intention of being the voice of the players and the catalyst for change.

“Tennis is falling behind other global sports on every meaningful metric because of its structure,” the PTPA added. “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.”
REUTERS, AFP