Iga Swiatek hopes for player talks with Roland Garros following prize money announcement

“Yeah, I think we’ve been pretty reasonable in terms of our proposal and getting the fair share of revenue,” Swiatek said before the tournament in Rome.

“I think the ‘increase of prize money’ is not exactly, you know, what we wanted because the percentage of revenue is going down. I don’t know if I’m explaining that well in English. I’m sorry.

“I think the most important thing honestly is to have like proper communication and discussions with the governing bodies so we have some space to talk and maybe negotiate.

“Hopefully before Roland Garros there’s going to be opportunity to have these type of meetings and we’ll see how they go.”

Sabalenka even suggested a boycott could be possible if talks don’t lead anywhere productive, though Swiatek didn’t sound convinced players are thinking that far ahead yet.

When asked about a potential boycott, Swiatek replied: “Honestly, it’s about different situations over the last years. There have been, like, many discussions in like top-20 group, not specifically related to prize money, but also the war in Ukraine.

Full details from the players’ statement

“Roland Garros generated €395m in revenue in 2025, a 14% year-on-year increase, yet prize money rose by only 5.4%, reducing players’ share of revenue to 14.3%,” the co-authored statement read, as reported by The Guardian.

“With estimated revenues of more than €400m for this year’s tournament, prize money as a percentage of revenue will likely still be less than 15%, far short of the 22% that players have requested to bring the grand slams into line with the ATP and WTA tours.

“As Roland Garros looks to post record revenues, players are therefore receiving a declining share of the value they help create.

“More critically, the announcement does nothing to address the structural issues that players have consistently and reasonably raised over the past year.

“There has been no engagement on player welfare and no progress towards establishing a formal mechanism for player consultation within grand-slam decision making.

“The grand slams remain resistant to change.

“The absence of player consultation and the continued lack of investment in player welfare reflect a system that does not adequately represent the interests of those who are central to the sport’s success.”

The core issue isn’t about increasing prize money overall, but rather ensuring that it better reflects their role in generating event income.