NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 08: Jannik Sinner of Italy celebrates with the winners trophy after defeating Taylor Fritz of the United States to win the Men’s Singles Final on Day Fourteen of the 2024 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 08, 2024 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Getty Images
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, the 2024 U.S. Open champion, is among the tennis stars considering boycotting the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles event amid the sport’s prize money dispute, according to a report from The Times.
There has been no reporting that Sinner and other tennis stars would boycott the singles draws at the Open, where the winners will take home $5 million each. Total prize money at the Open is $90 million.
The 16-team Mixed Doubles event will be played Aug. 24-25 in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium – during the week before the singles draws begin Aug. 30. Last year’s Mixed Doubles winners, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, took home $1 million in prize money.
Top stars Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Naomi Osaka, Madison Keys and Aryna Sabalenka were among those to compete in last year’s event. Sinner was initially slated to play with Emma Raducanu, but bowed out after retiring in the Cincinnati final.
Amid pressure from players, Wimbledon on Thursday announced 20% increases in total prize money and for the singles champions, who will earn $4.8 million each at the grass-court Grand Slam next month.
The total prize money including player per diems will be $85.8 million, described as “by far” the biggest annual increase in the tournament’s history.
“I would hope the players would welcome it. It’s a significant amount of money,” All England Club chair Deborah Jevans said at a press conference.
“We’ve demonstrated that we’ve looked at every round, including qualifying. My hope is that the players do recognize what a significant increase that this is.”
Players have long been calling for a greater share of revenues from the four Grand Slams and recently began taking steps toward collective action.
For this year’s Wimbledon, players advocated for total prize money of $95 million, Jevans said, citing her recent talks in Paris with Larry Scott, the former WTA CEO who has been advising the players.
The AP contributed reporting.