Alexander Zverev Hopes Players Ranked Outside the Top 200 Make a Living from Tennis Amid Roland Garros Protests

Alexander Zverev took part in the planned partial media protest at the French Open on Friday (May 22). The German spent just 15 minutes answering reporters’ questions before walking away from the media room. The main issue in the protest has been the Grand Slam tournaments’ refusal to increase the prize money allocation from their revenue pool.

Over the past decade, there has been a steady increase in prize money at Grand Slam tournaments. However, none of the tournament organizers have allocated more than 17% of the revenue pot to players’ prize money. In the past two years, it has been around 15 to 16 percent of total revenue.

Last year, top players, including Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Aryna Sabalenka, and Coco Gauff, signed a petition to the Grand Slam organizers seeking a 22% allocation for prize money from the revenue pool. After months of dialogue between players’ representatives and Slam Chiefs, talks have recently stalled.

The French Open then confirmed this year’s prize money pool will be $72 million, which is less than 16 percent of the total revenue. That didn’t sit well with several players, and they decided to stage a partial media protest, taking part in only 15 minutes of their press conference and not conducting any further interviews with the tournament’s media rights partners (TNT Sports and Eurosport).

Part of the call for an increase in players’ welfare stems from the fact that lower-ranked players struggle to make a living playing tennis. Speaking to the media, Zverev explained that the reason he joined the protest is that players ranked outside the Top 250 cannot make a living playing the sport, and the players deserve a fair share of the total revenue of major events:

Honestly, I am not the one leading this, but I am very happy to join, because I believe there must be more fairness for the players. And that fairness should not only be for the world numbers 1, 2, or 3. There has to be a situation where we can say that a player ranked 250 can make a living from tennis. I feel that if everyone comes together, the tours, the Grand Slams, and a more equitable percentage and joint plan are achieved, that can happen.

At the Italian Open, Sabalenka warned that players might have to boycott Grand Slam tournaments before the organizers listen to their demands. Nonetheless, French Open director Amelie Mauresmo admitted that she has opened a channel for communication between players and the organizers as they seek to resolve the dispute.

Alexander Zverev gives an update about his back injury ahead of Roland Garros opener

Alexander Zverev struggled with a back injury for the major part of last season. At one time, he revealed that he had to take a painkiller before taking to the court for his match on tour. He had one of the most disappointing seasons last year, managing just one title. This year has been better for the German star.

Already, he has reached two finals and at least five tournament semi-finals. He arrives at the Roland Garros to finally win his first Grand Slam on tour. During that aforementioned press conference, he noted that he’s ready for the tournament and eager to challenge for the title:

I went to see some doctors in Germany, which was very, very useful and I feel good. I feel like I’m ready to go and yeah, hopefully I can show that on the court on Sunday. Yeah, I mean, the back issue started last year, and I was really struggling the entire year, and then I went to see a very, very famous German doctor in December and he did his treatments in December.

Zverev will open his account against French star Benjamin Bonzi at the French Open. He’s projected to take on Zizou Bergs in the second round and Ugo Humbert in the third round. The 2024 runner-up reached the quarter-finals last year before losing to former World No.1 Novak Djokovic.

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