World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka said Tuesday that tennis players will eventually have to boycott a Grand Slam if organizers continue to refuse a fairer share of tournament revenue, hardening the rhetoric in a long-running dispute three weeks out from Roland Garros.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Italian Open on her 28th birthday, the Belarusian said the leading players on both tours had reached the point where collective action was the only realistic lever left.
“Without us there wouldn’t be a tournament and there wouldn’t be that entertainment. I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage,” Sabalenka said. “I think at some point we will boycott it. I feel like that’s going to be the only way to fight for our rights.”
Player statement
Sabalenka’s comments followed a joint statement issued Monday by ten of the world’s top women and nine of the leading men — including men’s world No. 1 Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek — expressing “deep disappointment” at the prize money structure announced by Roland Garros for the 2026 edition.
French Open organizers raised the overall pot by roughly 10%, but the players say the underlying ratio has gone the wrong way: their share of tournament revenue is projected at 14.9% in 2026, down from 15.5% in 2024, and well short of the 22% the group has been demanding since first writing to the four majors in April 2025.
The campaign extends beyond prize money. Players are also pressing the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open for contributions toward pensions, healthcare and maternity provision, and for greater say in scheduling — areas where the ATP and WTA tours have moved further than the Slams.
Mixed support
Sabalenka’s appetite for a strike is not yet shared across the locker room. World No. 3 Swiatek, the reigning Wimbledon champion, said she would prefer continued negotiation and called a boycott “a bit extreme,” though she added she hoped a meeting with Roland Garros organisers could be arranged before the tournament.
World No. 2 Elena Rybakina said she would defer to the majority. “If the majority say we are boycotting, then of course I’m up for it,” the Australian Open champion said. Italian Jasmine Paolini, runner-up at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2024, said the men’s and women’s tours were aligned and that the Slams were lagging the tours on player welfare.
Roland Garros organizers did not respond to a request for comment after Monday’s statement. The tournament begins May 24.
