Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has reacted to top tennis players threatening to boycott Grand Slams over prize money disputes.
Tsonga has been retired from tennis since 2022, but he has still been present at Roland Garros this year, where there has been a lot of talk surrounding a potential Grand Slam boycott in the future.
Top players including Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Jannik Sinner have all suggested they are prepared to boycott Grand Slams in the future to protest the current share of tournament revenue players receive in prize money.
While there is no sign of an official boycott at Roland Garros, most top players have been restricting media activities at this year’s tournament, and now Tsonga has given his verdict on the situation.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga gives his verdict on the potential Grand Slam boycott
When speaking to media ahead of Roland Garros this year, Tsonga was asked about the threat of a boycott at Grand Slams.
The former world number five explained that he could see both sides of the argument, with Tsonga admitting that he was well paid as a top player for most of his career, but he understood that the share players receive is much lower than other sports.
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“I think for the players obviously they look at it in comparison with other sports, how the redistribution is done,” said Tsonga.
“I’m on both sides, I have been a player, I know what it costs, I know what it demands…I was well paid, because I was a top player, other players have been very, very well paid, but they are looking at the comparison and you have to see where they want to go.
“Do they want to go to the negotiating table to get a little bit of a raise or do they want to increase it significantly? I’m not involved in the discussions, so I don’t really know, but there is an economic reality on the side of the organisers, on the side of the tournaments.
“I’m on that side of things and there is also obviously a reality on the players’ side and the whole point is to get to the discussion table and to make sure that everyone is happy. So the story isn’t about whether players are greedy or not, and instead whether everyone is happy with what’s happening as a player.”
Fabrice Santoro says if he thinks Roland Garros is being hurt by players threatening boycott
Tsonga is not the only former player who has been asked about this, with two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Fabrice Santoro also questioned on the topic.
While Santoro admitted that the ‘timing isn’t very good’, he stated his belief that lower-ranked players should be earning more money, something that Sabalenka has also stated is a reason for why she is taking action on this.
“I think the timing isn’t very good on the part of the players,” said Santoro. “I think they should fight first and foremost to ensure that as popular and important as tennis allows 300, 400, 500 players to make a decent living in the world, which is not the case today.
“After that, I believe the best players in the world earn a very good living, they want to earn it better. To my knowledge, the Grand Slam tournaments, including Roland Garros have been increasing the prize money every year for several years and this is planned to continue in the coming seasons. I hope that this topic does not pollute Roland Garros.”
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Santoro was then asked a follow-up question about whether he thinks this could negatively impact Roland Garros this year.
“No, I don’t think so. It depends a bit on the management of the subject,” responded Santoro. “We’re going to see a little bit of what’s happening today during the media, where they said they would address the subject.
“Tennis is an extremely popular sport, the best players earn an extremely good living. Those playing in the qualifiers or even just a little bit lower are often in great financial difficulty, those are the ones who should be helped first and foremost.
“The tennis player is an individual sportsman, so they are an individual sportsman and a business leader, so naturally they want their company to make the best possible turnover because that will then allow them to invest in themselves and by investing, they will be able to be more efficient.
“This is how every tennis player operates, which is light years away from the basketball player, who is an employee, from the footballer, who is an employee, who has a coach, a sporting director, a president, a shareholder and a tennis player compared to the footballer, it’s an inverted pyramid. The tennis player is a business owner, they are at the very top of the pyramid, whereas the footballer is at the bottom of the pyramid.”
