Aryna Sabalenka Calls for Boycott If Players Don't Get Bigger Prize Money at Tennis Grand Slams

WTA No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka said Tuesday she feels players will boycott Grand Slam tournaments unless prize pools are increased going forward.

"Without us there wouldn't be a tournament and there wouldn't be that entertainment. I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage," Sabalenka said Tuesday during a press conference ahead of the Italian Open, per Andrew Dampf of the Associated Press. "I think at some point we will boycott it. I feel like that's going to be the only way to fight for our rights."

Sabalenka continued, per The Athletic's Charlie Eccleshare: "I feel like nowadays, we girls can easily get together and go for this because some of the things I feel like it's really unfair to the players. I think at some point it's going to get to this."

Sabalenka's statement came just under three weeks before the French Open starts at Roland Garros.

The tournament recently announced a prize money increase of 9.5 percent overall and 9.8 percent for singles champions, who are set to take home 2.8 million euro from a total pot of 61.7 million euro.

That's a smaller percentage increase than other Grand Slam prize pools including the U.S. Open (20 percent increase last year) or Australian Open (16 percent increase last year), per the BBC's Russell Fuller.

Sabalenka and other top players including ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner expressed discontent with the French Open prize pool and other Grand Slam compensations in a letter sent to officials on Monday, per the AP's Samuel Petrequin.

According to Petrequin, the letter stated the increase of the prize pool hasn't been enough to stop the players' share of tournament revenue from decreasing over the last two years.

The players said they are set to receive less than 15 percent of the French Open's revenue, short of what Petrequen reported is their goal of a 22 percent revenue share.

This marks at least the third time a group of top-10 players including Sabalenka and Sinner have requested better compensation from the Grand Slams. The group also sent letters to the tournaments in March and last July, per the AP's Howard Fendrich.

According to Fendrich, the group is seeking higher revenue share from Grand Slam tournaments, the launch of a new player council with more decision-making power and "contributions to pension, health and maternity benefits that would go from zero to $12 million annually by that same year."

Sabalenka is currently set to compete at Roland Garros after the French Open begins May 24 in Paris.