Tennis stars campaigning for more prize money at the Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York raised the prospect of boycotting the French Open to force organisers to share more of the money generated by the international circuit's most prestigious competitions.
"When you see the number and you see the amount the players are receiving ... I feel like the show is on us," said women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka as she prepared for her second-round match on Thursday against Barbora Krejcikova at the Italian Open in Rome.
"I feel like without us there wouldn't be a tournament and there wouldn't be that entertainment," Sabalenka added. "I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage. What can I say?"
Bosses at the French Open announced a 9.53 percent increase in the 2026 purse to €61.273 million compared to €56.352 in 2025 when outlining details of the tournament which starts at the Stade Roland Garros in western Paris on 18 May.
Prize money dispute
A player losing in this year's first round of the main draw will receive €87,000. In 2025, they went away with €78,000.
The 2026 men's and women's singles champions will pocket €2.8 million, a 10 percent increase on the €2.55 million handed to Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff following their wins over Jannik Sinner and Sabalenka respectively in the 2025 finals.
Alcaraz, Sinner, Sabalenka and Gauff were among the world's 20 best players who signed an open letter that was sent on Monday to the French Tennis Federation (FFT) which stages the French Open.
In it, they said they were collectively disappointed with the prize money offered by the French Open, which is nicknamed Roland Garros.
“Roland Garros generated €395m in revenue in 2025, a 14 percent year-on-year increase, yet prize money rose by only 5.4 percent, reducing players’ share of revenue to 14.3 per cent,” the statement read.
“With estimated revenues of more than €400 million for this year’s tournament, prize money as a percentage of revenue will likely still be less than 15 percent, far short of the 22 percent that players have requested to bring the Grand Slams into line with the ATP and WTA tours.
"As Roland Garros looks to post record revenues, players are therefore receiving a declining share of the value they help create."
Growing solidarity
During a press conference to present innovations at the 2026 French Open, tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said FFT officials wanted to give more prize money to players who come through three rounds of qualifying and those who lose in the early rounds of the main draw.
In 2026, a first-round loser in the qualifying tournament will get €24,000 and there will be €33,000 and €48,000 for losses in the second and third rounds respectively.
In 2025, the sums for the three qualifying rounds were €21,000, €29,500 and €43,000.
"A particular effort has been made for the first three rounds of the singles draw in the main tournament with an increase of between 11.11 and 11.54 percent," an FFT statement said.
"As for the prize money for the doubles events – women’s, men’s and mixed – it has increased by 3.90 percent compared to last year."
The FFT said prize money allocated to this year’s wheelchair and quad tennis competitions would rise to €1,018,500 – a 14.55 percent increase.
Gauff said there was growing solidarity among players over demands for a larger share of tournament revenues.
"I definitely agree with her on that standpoint,” Gauff said. “I think a few other players agree, too.”
The 22-year-old American highlighted the campaign by women basketball players in the United States who fought WNBA administrators for more than a year before eventually signing a new collective bargaining agreement that brought them nearly 20 percent of league revenue.
“If everyone were to move as one and collaborate, I can 100 percent see that,” Gauff added. “It’s not about me.
"It’s about the future of our sport and the current players who aren’t getting as much benefits as even some of the top players are getting, when it comes to sponsorship and things like that. We’re making money off court."
Slam comparisons
Gauff said it was unfortunate that players between 100 and 200 in the world rankings were often struggling financially.
“If we all collectively agree, then yes … I think that a boycott is something us as players have to talk amongst ourselves and do it, and talk within each other and decide what’s best."
The Australian Open offered prize money of A$111.5 million in 2026, up from A$96.5 million, while the US Open paid out $90 million in 2025 and Wimbledon Championships gave players a total of £53.5 million in 2025.
Wimbledon, which starts on 29 June in south-west London, has yet to announce prize money for the 2026 championships.
