Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu have reacted to Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s warning that top tennis stars will boycott Grand Slam tournaments over the ongoing prize money dispute.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka<\/a>, Swiatek and Gauff were among a host of leading players who issued a statement criticising the prize money on offer at the 2026 French Open.<\/a><\/p>\n After this, world No 1 Sabalenka made some strong comments about the prospect of boycotting the sport\u2019s four biggest tournaments.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think at some point we will boycott it (Grand Slams), yeah,\u201d the four-time Grand Slam winner asserted in her pre-tournament press conference at the Italian Open.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like that\u2019s going to be the only way to fight for our rights. Let\u2019s see how far we can get\u2026 if it\u2019s going to take players for boycott.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like nowadays, we girls can easily get together and go for this because some of the things, I feel like, it\u2019s really unfair to the players. I think at some point it\u2019s going to get to this.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to the media in Rome, Gauff backed Sabalenka\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, honestly, I kind of agree with that, just taking what the WNBA (Women\u2019s National Basketball Association) kind of accomplished. They also have a union, so I think that helps,\u201d said the world No 4.<\/p>\n WTA Rankings Race To Riyadh: Rybakina No 1 as Sabalenka closes gap, Andreeva & Kostyuk jump<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Coco Gauff gives her verdict on the conditions at the Italian Open ahead of her first match<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Want more from Tennis365? Add us as\u00a0<\/span>a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI definitely think, from the things I\u2019ve seen with other sports, usually to make massive progress and things like this, it takes a union. Yeah, we have to become unionised in some way.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I mean, I think you can put pressure on media, media pressure, and things like that. For all of us showing up, everyone\u2019s going to act as normal.<\/p>\n \u201cI definitely agree with her on that standpoint. I think a few other players agree, too.\u201d<\/p>\n The two-time major winner added:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve never been a part of any real discussion regarding that, like where it comes to something as big as a boycott.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe there have been other discussions between other players, but I\u2019ve never talked really to anyone about it on tour.<\/p>\n \u201cIf everyone were to move as one and collaborate, yeah, I can 100% see that [happening].<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about me. It\u2019s about the future of our sport and also the current players who aren\u2019t getting as many benefits, maybe as many as some of the top players are getting when it comes to sponsorship and things like that. We\u2019re making money off court.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at the 50 to 100, 50 to 200, how much money each Slam makes, it\u2019s kind of unfortunate where the 200 best tennis players are living paycheck to paycheck, whereas in other sports, it\u2019s not even a discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, described a potential boycott as \u201ca bit extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the most important thing is to have proper communication and discussions with the governing bodies so we have some space to talk and maybe negotiate,\u201d said the world No 3.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully before Roland Garros there\u2019s going to be opportunity to have these type of meetings and we\u2019ll see how they go.<\/p>\n \u201cBut boycotting the tournament, it\u2019s a bit extreme\u2026 I guess we as players are here to play as individuals, and we\u2019re competing against each other.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s really hard for me to say how it would work, if it\u2019s even there on the picture. For now, I haven\u2019t heard anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Emma Raducanu, who won the 2021 US Open, revealed she would not take part in a boycott.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives you something that money can\u2019t and that is what is the most important to me, and what I value the most,\u201d Raducanu told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be a part of [a boycott] but each to their own.\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Italian Open withdrawals: 15 players out as Marta Kostyuk latest big name on growing list<\/a> The post Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek & Emma Raducanu react to Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s Grand Slam boycott comments<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu have reacted to Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s warning that top tennis stars will boycott Grand Slam tournaments over the ongoing prize money dispute. Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff were among a host of leading players who issued a statement criticising the prize money on offer at the 2026 French Open. After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tennis News<\/h2>\n
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