One of their demands is for the players’ share of Grand Slam earnings to rise from around 16 percent to 22 percent by 2030, which they say is in line with what the ATP and WTA tours offer at their joint Masters 1000 events.
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This requirement is still evident compared to major American sports leagues such as the NFL and NBA, where the player share of revenue approaches 50 percent.
Last year, on the eve of the tournament at Roland-Garros, the first meeting between Grand Slam CEOs and select players took place, including Gauff, Sinner, Sabalenka and Casper Ruud.
“I imagine there will be more of those meetings,” Gauff said. “But no one wants to have this conversation going on for years and years, so I would imagine we would continue to have those conversations and maybe there would be more pressure, especially with the top 10.”
Australian Open boss Craig Tiley.Credit: Getty Images
The Slam bosses are keen to meet again at one of the Masters 1000 events early in the season, the source said, but this is likely to happen only if formal offers are made to the players’ demands.
The Australian Open prize pool of $111.5 million is a 16 percent increase on last year’s offering, including the men’s and women’s singles champions who each claimed $4.15 million, up 19 percent.
Tennis Australia’s revenue for the last financial year, ending September 30, was a record $697.2 million, largely due to the Australian Open.
Tournament boss Craig Tiley said at the time of the announcement that the prize increase demonstrated his organisation’s “commitment to supporting tennis careers at all levels”.
In a statement to this masthead, Tiley said, “All players we’ve spoken to are extremely appreciative and appreciative of the efforts we’ve made to accommodate their needs, including the positive comments they’ve made about our continued reward increases.”
Tiley also said Open prizemoney accounted for more than 21 per cent of tournament revenue this year and outpaced Tennis Australia’s annual revenue growth.
The campaign led by Scott is separate from the Pro Tennis Players Association’s lawsuit against stakeholders in the sport. Tennis Australia is the first of those interested parties to actively seek an agreement with the PTPA, which could happen as early as this month, the source said.
Sabalenka, a two-time winner at Melbourne Park, said on Friday: “I think we can always be better. But I think all the slams are trying to work with us and come to a conclusion. I hope one day we can get to a happy place for everyone.”
A key point of the players’ demands is that the Grand Slams contribute to a social fund for pension, health and maternity benefits.
“I can absolutely see the players’ side wanting the slams to step up and promote player welfare,” defending Australian Open champion Keys said.
“It’s really important. We put a lot of ourselves into this sport. They, as the top earners, I think it makes absolute sense. Since we’re a product, it makes sense for us to be partners.”
“I think these have been the most productive conversations we’ve ever had, which makes me cautiously optimistic about the future. But I think it’s in everyone’s best interest to continue to be really good partners. We all need each other.”
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