LONDON — Wimbledon’s top tennis players plan to expand their protest over prize money by restricting media appearances at next week’s grass-court Grand Slam tournament.
The decision means players will only speak to the media for 15 minutes after each match during the first week of the tournament.
The protests began at this year’s French Open, where players complained that the total prize money only accounted for 14.3% of the clay court tournament’s revenue.
Wimbledon responded this year by increasing the prize pool by 20 per cent, with singles winners taking home £3.6 million each.
However, a statement released on Wednesday by the advisory firm representing the players said “direct action protests” would continue for the first week at the All England Club.
“Reflecting the fact that Wimbledon currently pays players just under 15% of their revenue in prize money, players will be limited to contractual media appearances of 15 minutes during the first week of the Championships,” it said in a statement. “Following detailed consultation with players across both tours, player representatives have written to Wimbledon’s leadership to inform them of the planned actions and welcome the recent 20% increase in prize money compared to last year’s Championships.”
Players will account for 14.4% of Wimbledon’s expected revenue this year, which is lower than the 14.9% share they received 10 years ago, the statement said.
The players wrote a proposal last year asking for 16% of the revenue.
The statement did not specify which players would take part in the protests.
A spokesperson for the All England Club told PA: “We are surprised and disappointed by this action. At Wimbledon we put our players at the heart of every decision we make and we invest heavily in them every year. This year’s total prize money has increased by 20 per cent to £64.2 million, which is the biggest increase in the history of our competition.”
“This comes alongside investing hundreds of millions of pounds in upgrading our player facilities as part of a three-year transformation to create a world-class player performance environment.”
At Roland Garros, top women’s rankings Arina Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek restricted their media appearances, while top 10 men’s rankings Jannik Sinner were also in the top 10. However, Novak Djokovic did not take part in the protest.
When announcing a 20% increase in Wimbledon prize money two weeks ago, All England Club chairman Deborah Jevans said she hoped it would satisfy players.
“I showed that I have considered every round, including qualifying,” Jevans said at the time. “My hope is that the players realize what a significant increase this is.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
