Tennis stars have left the door open for media protests at the 2026 US Open.
World No. 3 women’s player Jessica Pegula tells Front Office Sports that top players are waiting on the US Open to announce this year’s purse before deciding whether to rekindle their protest at the year’s final Grand Slam. Last year, players sent two letters to Grand Slam organizers expressing concerns over their share of revenue, which goes toward prize money and other benefits.
“I think going into the US Open, we’re still waiting on a prize money announcement, so we haven’t really made any big decisions,” said Pegula, who is also a player representative on the WTA Player Council. “They have definitely come to the table as far as wanting to change some of the stuff that’s been going on. I don’t know how much, how far they’re willing to.”
She added that she expects players to have more conversations “over the next few weeks” while at the Cincinnati Open, the final major tournament before the US Open.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka also didn’t rule out possible protests in New York when asked by FOS in Cincinnati last week: “Let’s see. Who knows?” Sabalenka has been one of the most active voices regarding player protests, even suggesting the possibility of tournament boycotts.
The majority of the top-10 men’s and women’s players participated in a media protest at Roland-Garros in May, limiting their pre-tournament media availability to 15 minutes, instead of what’s normally about an hour. The 15-minute limit was deliberate: It represented the 15% revenue share players typically receive at Grand Slams, a number they hope will jump to 22% by 2030.
The players did not continue their protest into Wimbledon the following month, after significant conversations between player representatives and the All England Lawn Tennis Club. The prize money saw a 20% year-over-year increase to $85.7 million (£64.2 million), but was reportedly still short of players’ $93.5 million (£70 million) desire.
Pegula said the French Open protest has resulted in additional conversations with Grand Slam organizers: “We’ve been in more communication with a lot of the Grand Slams, especially the US Open. They’ve been very open to wanting to improve things.”
In June, The Times UK reported that world No. 1 men’s player Jannik Sinner was considering boycotting the revamped US Open Mixed Doubles tournament. Pegula told tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg days later that Sinner may be working independently for that protest. However, Sinner has not played since winning Wimbledon in July due to injury, and his status for the US Open is up in the air.
This year’s US Open prize-money announcement is taking longer than normal. Last year’s announcement came on Aug. 6, and the USTA, the tournament’s organizers, have revealed the US Open’s prize money in early August for the last three years. (Though in 2021 and 2022, the announcement didn’t come until mid-August, about a week before the tournament began.)
The USTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on when it would announce prize money.
The US Open has typically provided the largest purse of any Grand Slam. Last year, the tournament provided $90 million in total player compensation: a record $85 million prize money plus $5 million for out-of-pocket expenses. But the US Open also generates the most revenue of all Slams, and players’ revenue share still falls around 15%, similar to other Slams. In 2024, the last year for which figures are available, the US Open’s operating revenue was $559.7 million, while the total player compensation was $75 million, about 13.4% of revenue.
