Tennis stars’ protests over prize money share to continue at Wimbledon

The top men’s and women’s tennis players have decided to continue their protests for a greater percentage of grand slam tournament revenues at Wimbledon.

A month after the top players chose to limit their pre-tournament media duties at the French Open to 15 minutes, the players will extend the protest until the end of the first week of the tournament, also limiting their post-match media duties during the event.

The top players on the men’s and women’s tours have been in dispute with the grand slam tournaments since joining together to send a letter to the organisers of each, requesting a greater percentage of prize money revenues, contributions to player welfare funds and the formation of a grand slam player committee.

After a year of minimal movement, the prize money pot announced for the French Open prompted the top players to initiate a boycott of all but their mandatory media obligations during their pre-tournament media day in Paris. They refused to speak with any of the broadcast rights holders, who paid the tournament significant amounts of money.

The All England Club had been hoping to avoid such a confrontation and, after meeting player representatives during the French Open, the club announced a record prize money increase of 20% for this year’s championships, with the total rising to £64.2m. The player group acknowledged the significant rise, but the figure fell short of the £71m figure they had pushed for. According to the player group, the revenue share at Wimbledon stands at 14.4% while the player group was pushing for 16%.

At Wimbledon, the players’ representatives have pledged to extend the protest from the pre-tournament media day on Saturday for the first week of the championships, from Monday 29 June to 5 July.