The four Grand Slam tournaments have agreed to create a formal player advisory council in an attempt to break a dispute that has strained relations between leading tennis players and the major tournaments for nearly 18 months. The initiative aims to establish a more structured form of player representation, at a time when players such as Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have called for a greater share of the revenue generated by the championships and more influence over decisions affecting the sport.
The proposal could be made official alongside the announcement of the US Open prize purse, which is expected to exceed $100 million for the first time this year. The New York tournament, traditionally one of the highest-paying events on the calendar, awarded a total of $90 million in 2025 and is now facing growing pressure to increase the amount allocated to players, while the creation of the new council is emerging as another key point in efforts to move the negotiations forward.
Players demand a greater share of tournament revenue
The dispute between players and the Grand Slam tournaments goes beyond the size of prize money. Players are calling for a broader reform of the sport’s economic and governance structure, including a greater share of tournament revenue, contributions from the major championships to player welfare, and representation mechanisms that would allow players to have a meaningful role in decision-making. One of their main demands is for the Grand Slams to allocate 22% of their revenue to prize money, in line with the proportion applied on the ATP and WTA tours. At Wimbledon, for example, the £64.2 million prize purse represented approximately 14.4% of the tournament’s total revenue.
The lack of progress prompted the world’s top 10 male and female players to take more direct action during the season. At the French Open in May, several leading players withdrew from certain media activities that were part of their tournament commitments, while a similar protest planned for Wimbledon was called off after last-minute negotiations. The tension has also spread to the US Open, where the possibility of further action by players remains if they consider the announced prize money insufficient or if the new representation mechanism fails to meet their expectations.
The new council opens another dispute over representation
The creation of the advisory council is intended to establish a permanent channel between players and the four Grand Slam tournaments, but its structure will be just as important as its existence. One of the main issues players want to resolve is who will have the power to choose their representatives, how those representatives will be selected and how much influence they will have over tournament decision-making. The model players are looking to is the existing councils on the ATP and WTA tours, whose members are directly elected by their peers and serve for fixed terms.
The pressure now falls particularly on the USTA, which is preparing for the US Open under the leadership of Craig Tiley, the former chief executive of Tennis Australia. The tournament begins on August 30 and is at the center of expectations in the locker room, both because of the potential prize purse exceeding $100 million and because of the details surrounding the new council. The dispute has also extended to the new mixed doubles tournament, which the USTA has promoted as part of its strategy to increase revenue and turn the event into a three-week competition. Sinner is not among the players in the announced main draw, while Sabalenka will compete alongside Novak Djokovic, forming one of the tournament’s most high-profile pairings.
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