Organisers of the French Open have promised that their players will enjoy camera-free privacy in a space of their own following the criticism that the Australian Open copped from top stars earlier in the year.
After Coco Gauff's off-court racquet-smashing at Melbourne Park was caught on camera and went viral, the American superstar, Novak Djokovic and Jessica Pegula all hit out, with Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek asking: "Are we tennis players or animals in the zoo?"
Without mentioning the Australian Open and the US Open, where Aryna Sabalenka had also been caught on camera smashing a racquet, French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo insisted on Thursday that tennis needed to "maintain respect for privacy" and reserve a secluded area for the players' sole use.
"Players need a private area, something which will not change," said Mauresmo. "No cam access."
The Paris organisers also won't be following the Australian Open's creation of an instant millionaire, not interested in emulating the "AO 1 point slam" novelty contest when local amateur Jordan Smith beat Jannik Sinner, amongst other luminaries, on the way to the jackpot.
"Our ambition is not to repeat everything that's done elsewhere," Mauresmo said. "This is not something that corresponds to us, to the image of Roland Garros."
Roland Garros will also continue to go its own way on refusing to use the electronic line-calling which is now employed as a matter of course at Wimbledon, the Australian Open and most major events.
"They are not 100 per cent reliable," Mauresmo conceded about 'human' judges. "But our decision was to stick to our way."
Meanwhile, French Open prize money has been increased by about 10 per cent for an overall pot of 61.7 million euros ($A101.5 million) -- a bump-up of 5.3 million euros ($A8.7 million) from 2025.Â
The men's and women's singles champions will each receive 2.8 million euros ($A4.6 million) and the runners-up 1.4 million euros ($A2.3 million), while semi-finalists will get 750,000 euros ($A1.2 million) and first-round losers 87,000 euros ($A143,000).
Beyond Roland Garros, the Place de la Concorde will again show matches on a big screen for free in Paris during the second week in June, and the tournament will pay a special tribute to two of its departing favourites, home veteran Gael Monfils and Swiss 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka.
