Grand slams agree to create Player Advisory Council amid ongoing prize-money dispute
The four grand slam tournaments have agreed to establish a formal Player Advisory Council to try to defuse an almost 18-month dispute with leading players, a move that could be confirmed on Wednesday alongside the USTA’s announcement of this year’s US Open prize money.
The dispute has involved top players including Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, who have called for a greater share of tournament revenues and a wider overhaul of how the sport’s finances and operations are run, including contributions to player welfare and meaningful player representation. After talks stalled, members of the world top 10 in both men’s and women’s games withdrew from some contracted media activity at the French Open in May, and a planned boycott at Wimbledon the following month was cancelled after last-minute negotiations.
Sources involved expect the US Open prize pot to top $100m (£74m) for the first time; last year’s fund totalled $90m. The USTA’s announcement is taking place under the organisation’s new leadership, Craig Tiley, and the tournament starts on 30 August.
Players are pressing the slams to match the ATP and WTA tours by allocating 22% of tournament revenues to prize money, while the £64.2m on offer at Wimbledon equated to about 14.4% of the championships’ total revenue. That gap in revenue share has been a central point of the negotiations between players and the slams.
In addition to extending media non-cooperation, a number of players threatened to boycott the US Open’s mixed doubles event. The mixed doubles is scheduled for next week and forms part of the USTA’s plan to grow revenues by turning the tournament into a three-week event; the mixed doubles main draw was announced on Tuesday.
Notably, the men’s world No 1, Jannik Sinner, was not listed among the mixed doubles entrants announced on Tuesday, while Aryna Sabalenka will play in a high-profile pairing with Novak Djokovic. Sinner had entered the mixed doubles last year alongside Katerina Siniakova but withdrew because of an illness picked up at the Cincinnati Open.
A source involved in the negotiations said it was vital for the players to have a say in determining who represents them, how those representatives are selected and the extent of their involvement in the slams’ decision making. The ATP and WTA both already operate player councils whose members are elected directly by the players for fixed terms of office, and the proposed council is intended to address representation questions before players confirm their position.
The slams could announce the Player Advisory Council at the USTA’s prize-money statement on Wednesday, with sources expecting the US Open allocation to exceed $100m (£74m) for the first time; the tournament begins on 30 August and players have said they will await the finer details of the proposed council before confirming whether they will lift media non-cooperation or press any further boycotts at Flushing Meadow.