Tennis players end Wimbledon prize-money protest

LONDON – Top tennis players, including world No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, have ended their protest over perceived low prize money at Wimbledon, their representatives said on June 29.

The players had said they would limit their press conferences to 15 minutes for the first week of Wimbledon, expanding a similar protest for pre-tournament media duties at the French Open in May.

Players have claimed they are currently only paid 15 per cent of the revenue from the Slams, asking for 22 per cent instead.

Wimbledon has increased its prize money by 20 per cent, a move the players described as a “welcome step forward”.

They later released a statement before the grass-court Grand Slam event saying “that Wimbledon currently pays slightly below 15 per cent of revenues to players as prize money”, confirming their protest.

But their representatives said on the opening day of the tournament that “players have confirmed they will resume normal tournament media duties” after holding “constructive meetings”.

“This decision is based on Wimbledon’s commitment to return with specific proposals... The underlying matters remain unresolved and players will carefully evaluate the proposals once received,” the statement said.

“Dialogue with Wimbledon and the other Grand Slams will continue.”

All England Club chief Sally Bolton expressed relief the protest would not continue during the tournament.

“I think it’s great news that we and they can now just concentrate on the championships and on the tennis,” she told reporters.

“We’ve had some really fruitful conversations over the weekend, they’ve been really positive, we’ve effectively agreed what we had agreed before, which is that we want to continue in positive dialogue.”

The Wimbledon singles champions will bank £3.6 million (S$6.2 million), an increase from the £3 million earned by 2025 champions Iga Swiatek and Sinner.

“I really hope we can finally get to the table and really get it done, come to a conclusion that everyone is going to be happy with,” three-time semi-finalist Sabalenka said last week.

“Hopefully, we’ll never have to do this again.”

Meanwhile, Britain’s Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper have withdrawn from Wimbledon, dealing a blow to home hopes.

Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, is out because of a stress fracture in her lower right leg. The 23-year-old, who was seeded 30th, was due to start her campaign on June 29 against Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic.

“I’ve done everything possible to try to get to the start line but after a final scan tonight the niggle I’ve been managing has developed into a stress fracture,” Raducanu said.

Draper was forced to withdraw on June 29 with an arm injury, just as he was saying that tournaments will suffer if something is not done to address the amount of injuries in the men’s game.

Wimbledon is missing Spain’s two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz with a wrist injury while Italian former world No. 5 Lorenzo Musetti is out with a thigh muscle problem. Other players not at Wimbledon include Denmark’s Holger Rune.

Former world No. 4 Draper has had a torrid 12 months, cutting short last season with a bone injury in his arm and this year being dogged by a knee issue.

He said: “I think it’s pretty worrying the state of men’s tennis, especially right now. The amount of injuries, especially through young players, Musetti, I know (Arthur) Fils has had a lot of trouble, Alcaraz’s wrist.”

Men’s tennis has evolved away from short rallies often won at the net to a baseline game with long exchanges of groundstrokes with athleticism and power now key.

“I think definitely the way athletes are getting better and hitting the ball harder and moving better, I think it’s my opinion they need to really take a close look at what we’re doing on tour,” Draper, 24, said. “I think the tournaments are going to suffer a lot if not much changes. I think it’s a really important topic.”

In on-court action from the first day of Wimbledon on June 29, French Open finalist Maja Chwalinska suffered an unfortunate early exit after injuring her foot while holding match point.

The Polish 20th seed’s condition deteriorated thereafter and she ended up losing to Thai Mananchaya Sawangkaew 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Fourth-seed Jessica Pegula of the US fared better as she began her campaign with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Czech Darja Vidmanova.

Also through to the second round are Swiss 11th-seed Belinda Bencic and American 16th-seed Iva Jovic, who saw off Briton Mika Stojsavljevic 6-2, 6-1 and Jaqueline Cristian of Romania 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 respectively.

In the men’s draw, defending champion Sinner averted a second straight early exit by coming from behind to beat world No. 50 Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3. He will meet Portugal’s Nuno Borges in the second round. REUTERS, AFP