Aryna Sabalenka cuts press conference short in protest against French Open

By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Tennis Correspondent, Paris

Aryna Sabalenka cut short her press conference at the French Open on Friday as leading players protested against the tournament.

A group of 20 players, including world number ones Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner, have been pushing for a higher percentage of revenue at the grand slams to be awarded in prize money.

They are also unhappy at a lack of progress in their calls for investment in welfare programmes, including pension contributions, and representation at decision-making level.

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Having sent an initial letter to the four slams last spring, the group put out a statement earlier this month expressing deep unhappiness with the French Open in particular, which on Friday manifested in a coordinated protest during the tournament’s preview media day.

A number of players limited their activity to 15 minutes, comprising a 10-minute press conference and five-minute interview with the host broadcaster, refusing to do additional TV or radio interviews or provide social media content for the tournament.

The 15-minute time limit was chosen because that is the approximate percentage of revenue currently given in prize money by the French Open – well short of the players’ demand for 22 per cent.

The prize fund has risen by 9.5 per cent year on year to €61.7million, with this year’s singles champions each collecting €2.8million.

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Sabalenka ramped up the heat in Rome earlier this month by saying she believed players would need to boycott a slam to achieve their aims and, speaking in Paris, she said: “I stand with my words.

“We wanted to do it in a respectful way at the beginning, and you guys know how much we respect you and we appreciate you. It’s not about you. It’s just we are trying to fight for a fair percentage.”

The Belarusian abruptly brought the English section of her press conference to a halt, saying: “Now it’s time for national language. Thank you so much for being here, for asking questions.”

Four-time champion Iga Swiatek is another of the signatories, and she said of the protest: “We will do more when the tournament will do more for us.”

In a statement this week, tournament organisers expressed “regret” at the players’ actions and stressed their willingness to engage, while a meeting was scheduled for Friday with player representatives.

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Wimbledon are following events closely and will hold a similar meeting in Paris next week ahead of their prize money announcement next month.

TNT Sports, which broadcasts the French Open in the UK, declined to comment when approached by the Press Association but broadcasters believe the protest will be limited to one day of action.

The key question now will be what comes next, with Sabalenka’s call for a boycott making a number of players jittery.

American Taylor Fritz said: “I don’t know if I want to start throwing around the ‘B’ word.

“It’s a really big deal, and I don’t think we as players should really make big threats like that unless we’re fully ready to do it. I think that’s a discussion we need to have and we need to see what the potential ramifications for doing that are.”

Sinner believes there is the required unity among players to ensure the issue is not allowed to be pushed into the long grass.

“It takes all players, and players are very connected and we are all very much together,” he said.

“As I also said in Rome, it’s about the respect, and when we have to wait for over a year for just a small response, it’s not nice.

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“So let’s see where we go. Let’s see also how other grand slams are going to react after here, and then we’re going to decide.”

Novak Djokovic, who has been a long-time advocate of raising income at the lower levels of the sport and set up the Professional Tennis Players’ Association, is not part of the group and did not limit his media activity.

He called for the sport to come together and avoid the fractures that have been seen in golf with the splinter LIV tour.

“Let’s learn from that,” he said. “Let’s try to be a bit more united and have a unifying voice into finding a better structure and a better future for our sport, because now is the right time.”