Wimbledon prize money protest explained: What do tennis players want?

Leading players at Wimbledon will stage a week of protests as the row over prize money at the grand slam tournaments continues.

Top players from the men’s and women’s tours, including defending champions Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek, will limit their contractual media commitments to a symbolic 15 minutes per match day during the first week of the tournament. This will include post-match press conferences and interviews with TV rights holders. The action will begin at across the pre-tournament press conferences on Saturday and Sunday.

Earlier this month, the All England Club announced record prize money for this year’s tournament, confirming their biggest ever uplift in prize money and increasing the overall prize pool by 20 per cent. Wimbledon’s prize money now stands at an overall £64.2m; the breakdown of which sees the singles champions win a record £3.6m each and first-round losers receiving £80,000.

The players, who are represented by Larry Scott, the former chief executive of the WTA and an experienced sports administrator, initially welcomed Wimbledon’s announcement as a “genuine and significant step forward” – but it has not stopped collective action. The players’ representatives estimate that their share of Wimbledon’s projected revenues for 2026 stands at 14.4 per cent (hence the 15 minutes), and say that ratio is less than their share from 10 years ago – despite revenues growing over that period.

The players have been pushing for a greater share of revenues for well over a year, and want a revenue-sharing formula to be established and written into any future prize money announcements. The players want their share of revenues at the grand slams to reach 22 per cent, the figure they receive at some events on the ATP and WTA Tours, by 2030, and had written to Wimbledon to propose a 16 per cent cut for this year. That would have seen their prize money increase further, to £71m.

But tying prize money to revenues is not seen as realistic by the grand slams. Speaking earlier this month, Debbie Jevans, chair of the All England Club, said that establishing prize money as a ratio of projected revenues makes “no sense”. Jevans said Wimbledon runs as a not-for-profit, operating differently from Tour events, and has a duty to support the wider infrastructure of British tennis by contributing 90 per cent of surplus funds at the end of the tournament to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

Wimbledon are said to be “surprised and disappointed” by the collective action, are were shocked that the record increase in prize money did not prevent protests from the players.

The grand slams argue that the players’ representatives underestimate the costs of running tournaments and staging important warm-up events. There has also been multi-million-pound investment into player facilities at the All England Club, including the renovation of the Millennium Building this year.

Additionally, Wimbledon have asked Larry Scott and the players’ representatives for financial records of tour events to understand where the 22 per cent revenue-sharing ratio comes from, but it is understood those details have not yet been provided.

Wimbledon believe they are fully transparent with their financial records and publish them every year. Wimbledon’s revenue last year was £427m and the All England Club account for this to grow by five per cent to around £444.8m this year, based on their previous records.

A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “Wimbledon puts the players at the heart of all our decisions and we invest significantly in them every year. This year’s total prize money fund has increased by 20 per cent to £64.2 million, which is the largest increase in our event’s history.

“This is alongside investing hundreds of millions of pounds in upgrades to our player facilities as part of a three-year transformation to create a world class player performance environment.”

Players ‘reserving all options’ for future strike action

In their demands to the grand slams, the players’ group – which does not include 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic – have also proposed greater contributions to a player welfare fund, the formation of a player council and for more consultation on tournament matters such as scheduling. The world No 1s, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, went on record in calling for more prize money late last season, and many have expressed a desire for a “fairer” share of the revenues they help create. Defending Wimbledon champion Sinner saying the proposals were about “respect”.

The players are advocating for “positive change”, Britain’s Jack Draper told The Independent last year, and have also argued that increasing prize money at grand slams would help support lower-ranked players who can struggle to make a living from tennis given the costs of travelling around the world, but whose existence is vital to the sport’s ecosystem. The prize money for Wimbledon qualifying alone now stands at £6.2m, after a 25 per cent increase this year.

The players’ representatives also expressed frustration at what they said was “no substantive response from Wimbledon” following their proposals regarding player welfare and the formation of the player council. This claim was swiftly rejected by the All England Club, who proposed establishing a player council late last year and were surprised when an invitation to a meeting at Indian Wells in order to discuss those matters was turned down.

During Wimbledon, the players’ representatives will also hold meetings with both the French Open and US Open. Last month, the players expressed their “deep and collective disappointment” at the prize money on offer at the French Open after organisers announced a 9.5 per cent increase, and the tournament will present their response to the players over the next fortnight. The US Open will also announce their prize money for the 2026 tournament in the coming weeks.

The expectation from the players’ side is that both tournaments will announce further increases, closer to the 22 per cent share, with the US Open likely to offer record prize money later this summer. But the players have warned they are “reserving all options” when it comes to future strike action. The players’ group are understood to have been angered by the suggestion that creating a revenue-sharing formula is a non-starter.

So what can we expect at Wimbledon? At the French Open, players limited their media appearances only across the pre-tournament press conference, before returning to normal during the first week.

But despite escalating their protests at Wimbledon to the entire first week, the players are still ensuring they remain within the rules.

Players can be fined up to £50,000 if they don’t turn up to press conferences, with the grand slam rule book stating that players are required to participate in interviews before and during the tournament “in order to help drive engagement with the sport”.