FRENCH OPEN IN PRIZE MONEY ROW

Leading players have sought a bigger share of the pie from French Open organisers, whose prize purse of 61.7 million euros ($72.32 million) lags well behind the other three Grand Slams despite a 9.5% increase for 2026.

BENGALURU,. —The Professional Tennis Players Association said 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.

Aryna Sabalenka and other leading players expressed their “deep disappointment” to organisers in a statement this week and have said a boycott is possible if the gap is not closed to the Australian Open, the U.S. 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 ($80.61 million) in January while the U.S. Open paid out $90 million and Wimbledon 53.5 million pounds ($72.55 million) in 2025.Reuters has sought comment from the organisers of the French Open, which begins on May 24.

HELP PLAYERS

The tournament said last month 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 said players undoubtedly put the spotlight on the sport’s biggest tournaments and deserved a greater share of the revenues, ‌backing calls for a 22percent 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-times 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.”

BROADER CONCERNS

While the latest standoff 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.—Reuters.