The leading tennis players in the world plan to limit their pre-French Open media commitments to 15 minutes in protest at the prize money on offer.
As first reported, external by The Guardian, the players could walk out of news conferences or broadcast interviews at Roland Garros this Friday and Saturday when the 15 minutes is up.
The 15-minute limit is designed to symbolise the 15% of revenue which – broadly speaking – the Grand Slams allocate to prize money.
The strategy has been communicated to most of the top 200 singles players, but representatives of the players accept they are free to make their own decisions.
The men’s and women’s top-10 players are demanding a higher percentage of the revenue generated by the four Grand Slams, as well as benefit contributions and a greater say in areas such as scheduling.
This year’s French Open prize money has increased by 9.5%, but the annual increase was 20% at last year’s US Open and nearly 16% at January’s Australian Open.
Interviews with the French Open’s major broadcast partners – such as TNT Sports – are likely to be targeted as the players attempt to put pressure on the French Tennis Federation’s (FFT) key commercial partners.
It has not yet been decided whether the players’ “work to rule” will continue when the main draw begins in Paris on Sunday.
An FFT statement said it “regretted” the players’ decision and it was “ready to engage in direct and constructive dialogue on governance issues”.
