As world No 1, I have to stand up and fight': Sabalenka leads players in grand slam protest

Aryna Sabalenka said the protest centers on improving conditions for lower-ranked players who struggle to live on the current share of earnings. She said top players have a responsibility to advocate for players suffering financially, including those coming back from injuries and the upcoming generation. The world’s elite escalated their frustration at Roland Garros by refusing participation in all media activities except mandatory interviews. Players planned to limit media duties to 15 minutes, symbolizing the roughly 15% of average grand slam revenue allocated to player prize money. They agreed to split time between a short press conference and a brief broadcaster interview. The dispute follows a signed letter requesting higher prize money, welfare initiatives like a pension, and a grand slam player council.

"“I feel like the whole point here, it's not about me,” Sabalenka said. “It's about the players who are lower in the ranking, who are suffering. It's not easy to live in this tennis world with that percentage that we are earning. As the world No 1, I feel like I have to stand up and to fight for those players, for lower-level players, for players who are coming back after injuries, the upcoming generation.”"

"“I feel like our point is pretty clear and pretty fair to everyone. That's what we are all about.” The top players opted to escalate their frustrations with the grand slams during media day at Roland Garros by refusing to participate in all but the mandatory media interviews. Players usually allocate 60-90 minutes of their time for various interviews with broadcasters and written press, photoshoots and social media games, but the players planned to cap their media duties at 15 minutes, a symbolic figure chosen to represent the roughly 15% of average revenue allocated to player prize money by the grand slams."

"Players agreed to split their time between a 10-minute press conference and a five-minute interview with the host broadcaster, their two mandatory duties. A number of top players have been in dispute with the grand slam tournaments for over a year after sending a signed letter requesting the grand slams to allocate more of their tournament revenues to prize money, contribute to player welfare initiatives, such as a pension, and to create a grand slam player council so that the players have a greater say in the event."

Read at www.theguardian.com