Top Tennis Stars Holding Media Protest At The French Open
With the main draw of the French Open set to begin on May 24, it appears some of the top players in the world have staged a media protest.
According to Charlie Eccleshare and Ava Wallace of The Athletic, Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner and several others have agreed to media-related protests. Apparently, they'll leave their pre-tournament news conferences earlier than usual.
The top players are also expected to refuse any interviews with TNT Sports and Eurosport.
As for why this boycott is taking place, the top ATP and WTA players aren't thrilled that they're only receiving 14.9% of the French Open's revenue.
The top players aren't holding back.
Just two weeks ago, Sabalenka said the top players in the world might start boycotting Grand Slam tournaments.
"Without us there wouldn't be a tournament and there wouldn't be that entertainment. I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage," Sabalenka said. "I think at some point we will boycott it. I feel like that's going to be the only way to fight for our rights."
Sinner made similar remarks in the beginning of May.
"It's more about respect, you know? Because I think we give much more than what we are getting back," Sinner said. "It's not only for the top players; it's for all of us players. Again, from men's and women's side, we are very, very equal. I think the top 10 men, top 10 women, we wrote a letter. It's not nice that after one year we are not even close to the conclusion of what we would like to have. Talking in other sports, if the top athletes, they send important letters, I truly believe that within 48 hours you have not only a response but you also have a meeting with this kind of thing, so … Of course, we talk about money. The most important is respect, and we just don't feel it."
We'll see if the Grand Slam tournaments end up bending the knee.
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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 6:20 AM.