Leading Tennis Players Extend Wimbledon Prize Money Protest With 15-Minute Media Limits From 29 June

Leading tennis players plan to extend their Wimbledon protest over Grand Slam prize money by limiting their media availability to 15 minutes after each match during the first week of the Championships, which start on Monday 29 June.

“- Published Leading tennis players will expand their prize money protest at Wimbledon - despite a 20% increase in this year's pot”

BBC

The All England Club said it is "surprised and disappointed" by the move, adding that Wimbledon "puts the players at the heart of all our decisions" while the total prize money fund has increased by 20 per cent to £64.2m.

BBC

The protest follows the French Open, where pre-tournament media commitments were limited to just 15 minutes, and the players now plan to replicate that restriction at SW19.

Player representatives say the 15-minute cap reflects that Wimbledon currently pays slightly below 15% of revenues to players as prize money, while the players argue the share should be 16%.

The BBC reported that the AELTC chair Deborah Jevans told BBC Sport earlier this month, "We don't look at percentages, we don't actually believe that is the right metric."

The protest is framed as a continuation of the "work to rule" approach at Roland Garros, where women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka cut short her pre-tournament press conference and players like Jannik Sinner and Iga Swiatek also followed the directive.

Sabalenka said at the French Open, "It's not about me. It's about the players who are lower in the ranking, who are suffering," and she added, "We just wanted to make our point, and we are united - 15 minutes is better than zero."

Sky Sports

Sky Sports said player representatives have written to Wimbledon's leadership to notify them of the planned action, after consulting players from both the ATP and WTA tours.

The BBC noted that Novak Djokovic did not take part in the action at the French Open, even as the All England Club described the protest as "surprised and disappointed".

In its statement, the players’ advisory firm said the decision was taken "following detailed consultation with players across both tours" and that the action would run "for the duration of the first week of the Championships" at the All England Club.

Wimbledon’s organisers say the 20 per cent prize money increase this year brings the total prize pot to £64.2 million, while the players’ group argues that the revenue share still sits at 14.4% against a 14.9% figure allocated in 2015.

“Stars will limit their contractual media commitments at the tournament to 15 minutes to represent the 15% of Wimbledon revenue that goes to players”

Sky News

The Guardian reported that the players acknowledged the record prize money rise but said it fell short of the £71m figure they had pushed for, and it said the protest would run from Monday 29 June to 5 July.

The BBC said the overall fund is still about £7m short of what the players had been hoping for, even after the singles champions were set to take home £3.6m each and first-round losers £80,000.

Deborah Jevans told BBC Sport that the AELTC disputes the players’ percentage-based approach, saying, "You cannot run a sustainable business, and we have nearly been around for 150 years, just by looking at revenue."

The BBC also said the dispute includes demands for contributions to a benefit pool and a greater say in how events are run, while the AELTC disputes that it has not had a "substantive response" and says it contacted players at the end of last year to propose talks on establishing a player council.