Before the French Open began, several players protested the prize money on offer in Paris.
Unhappy with a revenue share of 15% on offer at Roland Garros, seven percent lower than the 22% they requested, the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner committed to cutting their pre-tournament press conferences short at the 15-minute-mark.
Will players regret their decision to walk out of press conferences at Roland Garros?
Tensions are high in Paris!
Former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka has now delivered his verdict on the player protest, suggesting the sport has a bigger problem to solve.
Stan Wawrinka says the tennis schedule is a bigger problem than the prize money distribution
Appearing as a guest on the ‘First&Red‘ YouTube channel, Wawrinka was asked for his thoughts on the prize money controversy.
“I’m not involved; I didn’t know, maybe because I’m retiring at the end of the year, maybe I’m not good enough, so I read the press like everybody; I read what is happening!” he said.
“I think the topic is a big topic; tennis is a big structure; it’s a tough structure between the Grand Slams, the ITF, the ATP, the WTA, so it’s difficult to really put everybody together and find something that is good for tennis and tennis in general.
“Everyone wants their own piece of the cake, I would say.
“And same for players, top 10 doesn’t need or want the same as the number 100 of the world. I think the topic was already there 20 years ago, and even before me.”
Wawrinka highlighted the bigger issue facing players on tour.
“I think right now, tennis has a bigger problem with the scheduling,” he said.
“The young generation, there are a lot of injured players in the top 20 and the top 30, and I believe that the schedule is too packed, too complex and too complicated.
Notable injured players
| Rank | Player | Injury | Status |
| 2 | Carlos Alcaraz | Right wrist injury | Injured in Barcelona, expected to return on North American hard courts |
| 15 | Lorenzo Musetti | Right thigh strain | Injured in Rome, expected to return after Wimbledon |
| 20 | Valentin Vacherot | Left foot injury | Injured at Roland Garros, will miss Wimbledon |
| 21 | Arthur Fils | Hip injury | Injured in Rome, expected to return after Wimbledon |
| 23 | Rafael Jodar | Abdominal injury | Injured before Queen’s, expected to return at Eastbourne |
| 37 | Alexander Blockx | Ankle injury | Injured at Roland Garros, expected to return just before or after Wimbledon |
| 42 | Tomas Machac | Left foot injury | Ongoing injury, expected to return on North American hard courts |
| 63 | Holger Rune | Left Achilles injury | Injured in Stockholm last year, expected to return after Wimbledon |
| 113 | Jack Draper | Right knee injury | Injured in Barcelona, expected to return at Wimbledon |
“Forces the players to play almost every tournament.
“The most important thing will be to fix that problem.”
Some of the biggest names in tennis, including Carlos Alcaraz, Holger Rune, and Jack Draper, have missed several months due to injury.
Denmark’s Rune hasn’t played a match since last October, when he ruptured his Achilles at the Stockholm Open.
During an interview with the ATP Tour’s official website earlier this year, Rune admitted he needed to listen to his body better.
“When you play every week, you don’t really stop to assess things,” he said.
“I think it’s about managing tournaments better and listening more to my body. Sometimes you push too much, and now it was too much for my body.
“In the future, I’ll try to look at the bigger picture, not just the next goal, but how I feel physically and mentally. I think that is important for my longer-term aims.”
After struggling with cramps in Shanghai, Rune travelled to Stockholm and began his campaign a week later.
Had the Dane taken a break, he might not have missed almost a year of action due to injury.
But Rune shouldn’t be blamed for rushing into another tournament, as the tour encourages constant activity.
Missing a week or two to heal up might benefit a player physically, but it could see them drop in the rankings.
Surely the solution would be to reduce the number of tournaments, especially the mandatory events a player must attend each year.
Perhaps even a more radical idea could be considered…
Andy Roddick’s idea for how to fix the tennis calendar
Former world number one Andy Roddick has pushed for ATP 250 tournaments to be played after the ATP Finals, all in the same month.
The 43-year-old shared his thoughts during an episode of his ‘Served with Andy Roddick‘ podcast.
“There’s a simple fix guys; you want me to fix everything?” he said.
“250s are irrelevant to the eight players that are qualifying for World Tour Finals; they don’t affect qualification, and for the one in ten years that someone might sneak in by 20 points on a 250, should that dictate anything as far as scheduling?
“Move World Tour Finals up one month, all the 250s in the fall, put them on the back end of the World Tour Finals, right, put them in November.”
Roddick believes such a change would reduce the pressure on players to compete every week.
Unfortunately, the tennis schedule is only getting busier, and players will have another ‘big’ event to deal with when the Saudi Arabian Masters joins the calendar in 2028.