With rumblings of boycotts at the Grand Slams throughout this year, it remains to be seen whether players will ever come good on this threat.
After all, thus far, the threats have been just that: threats.
A media protest at Roland Garros was the extent of their pushback, prompting Wimbledon to announce record prize money.
The US Open, however, feels like the biggest opportunity for the players or the Grand Slams to make a statement of intent.
Jon Wertheim has the latest.
What’s the latest on the Grand Slam prize money debate?
Speaking on the latest episode of the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, this esteemed tennis journalist offered his unique insight into arguably the biggest controversy embroiling tennis.
Referencing the US Open specifically, Wertheim claimed: “The US Open, USTA, they are not going to agree readily with any sort of revenue sharing model.
“And yeah, the question is always, what these things is how much leverage do the players have? And there have been rumblings about mixed doubles.
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“What I was told is that there are players who are happy to play, who are sort of on a wait list, who haven’t been tapped yet, but if, Jannik Sinner is a name that’s been thrown around, Aryna Sabalenka has been very vocal.
“If those players choose not to play in the mixed event as a form of protest, they’ll still be okay to fill the field, Obviously, you’d rather have the two current world number ones than not, but I don’t think it’s fatal to this mixed doubles event.”
He also added, about Serena Williams’ tennis comeback: “Remember, too, Serena Williams will be in the draw. Remember, Novak Djokovic too has kind of distanced himself from this group. So if you had Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, and all of my downstairs neighbours, I suspect you’d still be okay.
“But no, I mean, like any negotiation, leverage is part of this, and one thing I think we talked about this at Wimbledon. The players, you know, the media protested is what it is. I don’t know it’s more of an annoyance than anything else. The tournaments would rather have better publicity, but it’s not fatal.”
Who played US Open Mixed Doubles last year?
Last year saw the US Open reveal their revamped mixed doubles format, containing some of the sport’s biggest names from the singles.
And, there’s no denying it was a huge success.
Carlos Alcaraz partnered Emma Raducanu whilst Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula formed a strong, no-nonsense pairing.
In the end, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the true doubles specialists, successfully defended their title, defeating Iga Świątek and Casper Ruud in the final.
