The players have sent individual proposals to each of the four Grand Slams for the changes they would like to see implemented.
There are three broads areas of concern:
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prize money – a higher ratio of prize money-to-revenue in acknowledgement of what players contribute to the financial success of the tournaments, with more money trickling down the draws
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player welfare – how much the Grand Slams are willing to contribute to pension, healthcare and maternity pots
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more consultation – the players want a say in major decisions made by the Slams to alleviate gruelling schedules, late night finishes and elongated tournaments
Sinner told the Guardian, external earlier this week he believes the Grand Slams should make a “fair contribution to support all players”, with the men’s world number one wanting player pensions and healthcare to be addressed immediately.
Currently, the Grand Slams do not contribute to player welfare programmes. The ATP Tour and WTA Tour stump up £60m between them in financial support and the leading players would like the majors to make a similar contribution.
In an interview with the Independent,, external American top-10 player Ben Shelton highlighted the disparity in the percentage of revenue to prize money between tennis and other sports.
Representatives of the players say the Grand Slam tournaments – which are the pinnacle of the sport – paid between 12.5% and 20% of their revenue to the players in 2024.
However, Grand Slam insiders dispute those figures. The Australian Open, for example, is believed to calculate it offers 23% of its revenue in prize money.
In comparison, stars playing in the four major American sports leagues – NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB – are paid between 40% and 50% of the income their competitions generate.
While the tennis stars understand team sports are a completely different model, they have asked each Grand Slam for a staged increase over the next five years, eventually leading closer to the 22% mark which they receive at some of the leading ATP and WTA combined tour events.
A player consultation group at all Grand Slams – focusing specifically on the majors unlike the existing tour player councils – has also been suggested to the tournaments.
“It has been a long time since we had both the ATP and WTA players work together, in order to have more of a say in terms of decision-making and contributions,” three-time major finalist Casper Ruud said.
