PARIS (AP) — Ten questions into her pre-tournament news conference as the defending champion at the French Open, Coco Gauff announced she was done.
“I have to go. Sorry. I’ll see you guys later,” Gauff said as she got up and walked out.
That was about as serious as the protest from top-10 players got at Roland Garros as interactions with reporters were limited to 15 minutes on Friday.
The players announced the limitation due to their displeasure about not getting a bigger share of tournament revenues at the clay-court Grand Slam, where play starts on Sunday. Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka had even discussed a boycott.
“It shows a lot of us are all on the same page and have kind of a collective action other than just having conversations,” Gauff said. “This is the first real point of action we have done.”
Players have criticized French Open organizers for reducing the players’ share of revenue to under 15% — compared to 22% at regular ATP and WTA Tour events.
Djokovic cites LIV Golf example
The only player who came near to approaching 15 minutes in the question and answer sessions was record 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who clocked in at 14 minutes, 48 seconds.
But Djokovic, who was celebrating his 39th birthday, said he wasn’t officially taking part in the protest. He still voiced an opinion on the subject, though, pointing to the schism between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
“Golf is a good example of a professional individual global sport that has been through and is still going through very challenging times in terms of the governance and splitting tours and players," Djokovic said. “Let’s try to be a bit more united and have a unifying voice into finding a better structure and better future for our sport."
Larry Scott organizing the players
Larry Scott, the former WTA CEO and ex-commissioner of the Pac-10 collegiate sports conference, has been advising the players.
Fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula said the players with Scott’s help needed to find “a middle ground of what we can do together that’s feasible the week before a Slam.
“If you try to talk about more extreme circumstances then all of a sudden people aren’t on board, you can’t get anything to happen."
Roland Garros organizers increased the prize money by about 10%, after the U.S. Open last year raised their’s by 20% and this year’s Australian Open by 16%.
The entire French Open pot was 61.7 million euros ($72 million), up 5.3 million euros from last year. But the players claimed their share of Roland Garros revenue declined from 15.5% in 2024 to 14.9% projected in 2026.
Kostyuk, French players not protesting
Marta Kostyuk, who enters Roland Garros on an 11-match winning streak after clay-court titles in Rouen, France, and Madrid, wasn’t part of the protest.
“I didn’t decide not to participate. I was just never asked to be in the discussion,” the 15th-ranked Kostyuk said. “I’m still not a top 10 player, so that’s probably the reason. … I’m very happy to be part of the conversation and discussion. I always have something to say.”
Corentin Moutet, a 32nd-ranked Frenchman known for his unconventional style of play, declared he was “not part of any movement.
“It's an individual sport. If there was actually a movement, we would have known of it earlier,” Moutet said. “We all have our own interests, and my interest at the moment is to play better. … Sports has to be put before everything else.”
Other French players also stayed out of the protest. Although host France doesn’t have any top 10 players, Arthur Fils at No. 19 is the top-ranked Frenchman and Lois Boisson, a semifinalist last year, is the top Frenchwoman at No. 50.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
