Djokovic Backtracking? A Call for Increased Prize Money at the Grand Slams

On March 21, 2025, some of the biggest names in professional tennis signed a letter “seeking more prize money and a greater say in what they called ‘decisions that directly impact us.’”[1] News of this letter is only just breaking, coincidently a little over two weeks after the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) filed a lawsuit alleging various antitrust violations against the ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA (i.e., various governing bodies of professional tennis).[2] Thus, suffice to say, the last month or so in the tennis world has been a legal nightmare for the country club sport’s higher-ups. Specifically, what is causing the various tennis entities such a legal headache is the fact that many superstar players are pushing for a multitude of change and reform. For instance, some of the superstars who have signed the March letter include[3]:

1. Novak Djokovic: Former Men’s World Number 1; 24 time Grand Slam Champion; and arguably the best tennis player of all time.
2. Jannik Sinner: Current Men’s World Number 1 and 3 time Grand Slam Champion.
3. Aryna Sabelenka: Current Women’s World Number 1 and 3 time Grand Slam Champion.
4. Coco Gauff: Former Women’s World Number 2 and 1 time Grand Slam Champion.

Additionally, some of the superstars who have signed onto the PTPA lawsuit include[4]:

1. Vasek Pospisil: Former Men’s Doubles World Number 4 and 1 time doubles Grand Slam Champion.
2. Nick Kyrgios: Former World Number 11; 1 time doubles Grand Slam Champion; and 1 time singles Grand Slam finalist.

Focusing specifically on the March letter, the players have “request[ed] . . . an in-person meeting at this month’s Madrid Open between representatives of the players and . . . Craig Tiley of the Australian Open, Stephane Morel of the French Open, Sally Bolton of Wimbledon and Lew Sherr of the US Open.”[5] The players subsequently outlined three areas that they want to focus on:

1. “Grand Slam tournaments should make financial contributions to player welfare programs funded by the two pro tours.”[6]
2. “Prize money should increase ‘to a more appropriate percentage of tournament revenues, reflective of the players’ contribution to tournament value.’”[7]
3. “The athletes should have more say in decisions ‘directly impacting competition, as well as player health and welfare.’”[8]

While many of the players who signed the March letter did not join the PTPA lawsuit (most likely because players do not want to have the social stigma of being attached to a formal legal proceeding, or that they do not completely agree with all of the allegations set forth in the lawsuit since the PTPA suit is much broader than the March letter, encompassing more than just allegations of inequitable distribution of Grand Slam prize money), both instances do overlap in the fact they call for a significant overhaul in the allocation of prize money at the Grand Slam events.

Therefore, this narrow scope of overlap between the PTPA lawsuit and the March letter may be why Novak Djokovic decided to sign the March letter, but not put his name on the PTPA lawsuit, despite being a co-founder of the organization. In support of this theory, Djokovic was quoted during a news conference at the 2025 Miami Open:

“I’ve seen some changes, but there are some fundamental changes that are still yet to be made and I really hope that all the governing bodies, including PTPA, will come together and solve these issues . . . . This is a classic lawsuit, so lawyers to lawyers type of situation. So, to be quite frank with you, there are things that I agree with in the lawsuit, and then there are also things that I don’t agree with.” (emphasis added).[9]

Thus, the call for an increase in player prize money at the Grand Slams may be what Djokovic “agree[s] with in the lawsuit[,]” while not agreeing with other alleged antitrust violations by the various governing bodies of professional tennis.[10]

Again, because the contents of the March letter have not been released to the public, the best we have to go off of is the complaint of the PTPA lawsuit. According to aspects of that lawsuit, it was reported “that the U.S. Open generated more revenue from the sale of one specialty cocktail [i.e., the ‘Honey Deuce’] ($12.8 million) than it paid to the men’s and women’s champions combined.”[11] To get the full picture, “[t]he operating revenue generated by the 2023 U.S. Open [was $514 million], according to the U.S. Tennis Association’s [USTA] annual financial statement.”[12] Of this $514 million (if one uses the reported figure from 2023 which is accurate if not lower than that of 2024), Jannick Sinner and Aryna Sabelenka (the men’s and women’s singles winners respectively) were each paid $3.6 million.[13] In other words, Sinner and Sabelenka each took home only approximately 0.70% of the U.S Open’s total generated compensation, despite being the ones who were actually responsible for the event occurring in the first place (i.e., they are tennis players playing at a tennis event)!

While the USTA has been quoted saying that it is “incredibly proud of the U.S. Open’s leadership in player compensation throughout its history . . .[,]” there is still much work to be done.[14] Merely having the “largest purse [i.e., total player prize money] in tennis history at the 2024 U.S. Open[]” is not enough when one actually looks at the numbers to see the total event operating revenue.[15] Only time will tell how the Grand Slams will respond to this player pushback, both in the legal court system as well as the tennis court itself, but the upcoming requested meeting in Madrid is a step in the right direction.

---

[1] ESPN, Djokovic, Gauff, other players ask for more money, more say, The Associated Press (April 3, 2025) https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/44523797/djokovic-gauff-other-players-ask-more-money-more-say (quoting signed letter which has not been made available to the public at this time).

[2] The PTPA and Tennis Players File Historic Legal Actions Against Governing Bodies Exposing Corrupt, Illegal, and Abusive System (March 18, 2025) https://www.ptpaplayers.com/legal-actions-filed/; see also Complaint for PTPA v. ATP Tour, Inc. et. al. (S.D.N.Y. 2025), which is available in the same above link.

[3] Supra note 1. Note that other notable players to have this letter include: Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Jasmine Paolini, Emma Navarro, Zheng Qinwen, Paula Badosa and Mirra Andreeva, Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur.

[4] Supra note 2.

[5] Supra note 1.

[6] Id.

[7] Supra note 1 (quoting signed letter which has not been made available to the public at this time).

[8] Id.

[9] Grez, Matthew, Novak Djokovic says he agrees and disagrees with parts of legal action launched by his players’ association, CNN Sports (March 21, 2025) https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/21/sport/novak-djokovic-ptpa-lawsuits-tennis-spt-intl/index.html.

[10] Id.

[11] Supra note 1.

[12] Knight, Brett, $75 Million in Prize Money, More Than $500 Million In Revenue: The 2024 U.S. Open By The Numbers, Forbes (August 23, 2024) https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettknight/2024/08/23/75-million-in-prize-money-more-than-500-million-in-revenue-the-2024-us-open-by-the-numbers/.

[13] ATP Tour, 2024 US Open prize money, Tournament News (August 7, 2024) https://www.atptour.com/en/news/us-open-2024-prize-money.

[14] Supra note 1.

[15] Id.