A letter reportedly sent by the world’s top tennis players requesting more prize money at grand slams is a “really positive” step for the sport, according to Chinese star Zheng Qinwen.
Renowned French sports outlet L’Équipe reported on Wednesday that the top-20-ranked male and female players cosigned a letter to organizers of the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open requesting a “substantial increase” in prize money.
L’Équipe said that the letter calls for greater redistribution of profits from the four grand slams to “benefit the main stakeholders” of the tournaments: the players.
CNN has contacted organizers of the four grand slams for comment.
“I think that’s going to be more benefit for all the players, not only the top players, especially for those players that work hard (every) year and need to get paid from the
slams, and they have to survive,” Zheng, the world No. 8, told reporters at the Charleston Open on Thursday.
Zheng added that the idea to sign the letter came after talking to Belarusian Victoria Azarenka about requesting more prize money.
“At the beginning, I just thought it’s tough to make it happen,” she said. “But somehow, they really did it, and then I spoke with my manager, and it seems like it’s a positive benefit for all the tennis players.”
Also speaking at the Charleston Open, American world No. 11 Emma Navarro said that the letter was about addressing “unfair pay ratios,” according to Reuters.
“I think it’s a good cause to come together as players and make sure we’re getting treated fairly,” she said.
Last year’s US Open had the most lucrative prize pot in tennis history at $75 million – a 15% increase on 2023 – while Wimbledon offered a tournament-record $65 million (£50 million) in player prize money last year.
This year’s Australian Open had a prize pool of around $60 million (AUD $96.5 million) – a near-12% increase on 2024 – while last year’s French Open offered around $59 million (€53.5 million) – a more than 7.8% increase on 2023.
The letter requesting more prize money comes at a time of growing tension between tennis players and the governing bodies of the sport.
Last month, the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) filed a series of lawsuits against the ATP and WTA Tours – the governing bodies of men’s and women’s tennis – as well as the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
The suits allege the “monopolization” of men’s and women’s tennis and the “disregard” of player interests, accusing the governing organizations of operating “as a cartel.”
The ATP and WTA both expressed their dissatisfaction with the lawsuits and said that they would defend their positions “vigorously.” The ITIA said that it was aware of the filings, while the ITF said that it would take time to consider an appropriate response.
