Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka warned they are wrong to threaten a Grand Slam boycott

The top players on both the ATP and WTA Tour have continued to criticise tennis’ major tournaments for the prize money given at Grand Slams.

Jannik Sinner suggested a boycott at Grand Slams following Aryna Sabalenka’s heavy criticism of the lack of increase in prize money at the latter stages of major tournaments.

While several top players are unhappy with the Grand Slams, Mark Petchey and CoCo Vandeweghe believe their criticism is aimed at the wrong people.

On The Tennis Channel, Vandeweghe and Petchey suggested stars such as Sinner and Sabalenka should turn their ire towards the ATP and WTA Tour instead.

“I think it’s important to remember what the slams are doing. I think you’ve got to look at things like Sabalenka last year. 58% of her prize money came from the majors. That’s just 27 matches compared to 75 that she played throughout the course of the season.” said Petchey on The Tennis Channel

“If we take a look at the men’s top 100, 62% of their prize money comes from the Grand Slams. That equates to just 14% of their play in the season. I think the issue lies on both sides. Can it be fairer? I think there’s no question in my mind that there can be a fairer split of the revenues at the majors.

“But I do think you’ve got to look at the Tours and the jobs they’re doing, particularly when you go down to like the 250 events. $6,500 for a first round loss at a 250 is not a great number

“So I think that somewhere in the middle of all of this, you’ve got to remember just hour much the Slams are doing. If you look from 100 down to 200 [in the rankings], and the amount of money that the Slams are putting in in that period, I think it’s about 70% of the players money from 100 to 200 comes from the majors. There are pulling a lot of weight here.”

Vandeweghe agreed with Petchey’s stance and took further aim at the Masters new format of two-weeks, which has proved controversial with the top players.

“I think that you have to look at our Tours. I think the Tours have failed us more than the Grand Slams. The Grand Slams have increased their prize money. They’ve given us more opportunities than ever. And also, at the lower ranked, the Tour have not. The Tours have failed us as players, in my opinion.

“We don’t get enough of the revenue share of event what this tournament in Rome does. We’ve moved to two weeks. You’re getting more money out of these tournaments, but what are the players seeing out of it?

What did the four winners receive at Grand Slams in 2025?

• Australian Open (Jannik Sinner and Madison Keys) – $4,150,000
• Roland Garros (Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff) – €2,550,000
• Wimbledon – (Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek) – £3,000,000
• US Open – (Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka) – $5,000,000

“I think the players are slightly misaligned in their view of where to place blame. I think there’s also problems with who’s on the boards. You’ve got a lot of agents on the boards who own a lot of these tournaments. A lot of these agencies, there’s a lot of co-mingling. There’s a lot of problems.”

Most of the Masters events were expanded to two-week events from the 2025 season, to try and maximise ticket sales at the likes of the Italian Open and the Madrid Open.

The decision has proved controversial, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner suggesting they would prefer the ATP Tour revert to the original format.

Players receive days off between matches at the beginning of the tournament, but they still need to remain focused for a longer amount of time.