Roland-Garros: 'Do you know professions where employees get 15% raises annually?' Forget responds to player boycott threats
Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
TLDR
- Tennis stars are threatening to boycott Grand Slam tournaments over demands for a better revenue share, with Jannik Sinner voicing concerns.
- Former Roland Garros director Guy Forget criticized the players' stance, highlighting significant prize money increases and the tournament's overall health.
- Forget argued that players already receive substantial amounts, with first-round losers earning around €87,000, and warned that boycotting would harm the sport and the players themselves.
Paris, France – As the clay court season reaches its crescendo with Roland Garros on the horizon, a storm is brewing off the court. Several top tennis stars, including Jannik Sinner, have voiced threats of boycotting the Grand Slams, demanding a larger slice of the tournament revenues. This push for increased prize money, while understandable from a player's perspective, has drawn sharp criticism from former tournament officials who believe the players' demands are out of touch with reality.
Do you know of many professions where employees are increased by 15% every year?
Guy Forget, a revered figure in French tennis and former director of Roland Garros, has been particularly vocal in his rebuttal. He pointedly questioned whether players know of many professions where employees see their earnings increase by 15% annually. Forget emphasized that prize money in Grand Slams has more than doubled in the last decade, with even players exiting in the first round set to earn a substantial €87,000 at Roland Garros this year. This year's tournament boasts a record prize fund of €61.7 million, a nearly 10% increase from the previous year.
The player who is the most mediocre will earn this amount for losing, perhaps 6-1, 6-1 and in 45 minutes knowing that the prize money is increased almost every year by 15%.
Forget's argument resonates with a sentiment often expressed within the sport's establishment: that the tournament, and the sport itself, is larger than any individual player. He cautioned that any attempt to boycott would ultimately be self-defeating, potentially alienating fans and undermining the very events that provide such lucrative opportunities. While Western media often frames this as a David-and-Goliath struggle between players and organizers, from a French perspective, it's also about respecting the legacy and the financial health of iconic institutions like Roland Garros, which have consistently invested in the sport's growth and provided unprecedented rewards.
The tournament is bigger than any player.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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