Players not getting the respect they deserve - Sinner

Jannik Sinner considers it "tough to say" whether he would ever boycott a Grand Slam over prize money, but the Italian claims players are not getting the respect they deserve.

His fellow world number one Aryna Sabalenka said on Tuesday that she believes players will "at some point" boycott one of the majors.

The top 10 players are demanding a higher percentage of the revenue generated by the four Slams, as well as benefit contributions and a greater say in areas such as scheduling.

"It's more about respect," Sinner said in Rome before his attempt to win a sixth consecutive Masters 1,000 title at the Italian Open.

"I think we give much more than what we are getting back. It's not only for the top players - it's for all of us players, from men's and women's side.

"The top 10 men and top 10 women, we wrote a letter and it's not nice that after one year we are not even close to a conclusion for what we would like to have.

"Talking in other sports, if the top athletes, they send important letters, I truly believe that within 48 hours you have not only a response but you also have a meeting.

"Of course we talk about money. The most important is respect, and we just don't feel it."

Meetings have taken place between players and Grand Slam representatives. The players have made no progress in their request for benefit contributions, and rejected discussions about the formation of a Grand Slam player council.

Sinner expressed his disappointment at the 9.5% prize money offered by this month's French Open - as players believe the total sum is still some way below the 22% of tournament revenue they feel entitled to.

The financial pot at last year’s US Open rose by 20%, with the figure for January’s Australian Open nearly 16% higher year on year.

"I think in the next couple of weeks we know also the prize money we're going to have in Wimbledon," Sinner said.

"We truly hope that it's going to be better. Then, of course, US Open. So I do understand players talking about boycott because it's somewhere we also need to start. It has been a very long time with this."

Sinner stopped short of committing himself to boycotting one of the Slams.

"Of course, it's tough to say. I cannot predict the future in a way," he said.

"It's the first time that I feel like the players are all in the same scenario and in the same point of view.

"I think it's also right because without the players, they are not going to happen, any tournaments. In the same time we also know and we respect the tournaments because they make us bigger as athletes.

"Let's see in the future."

World number four Coco Gauff, who has been involved in the players' campaign, said she could see herself joining a boycott "if everyone were to move as one and collaborate".

Collective action has been used before in tennis. In 1973, 81 of the top men's players, including defending champion Stan Smith, boycotted Wimbledon over the decision to suspend Yugoslavia's Nikola Pilic.

Pilic was suspended by the Yugoslav Tennis Association, which claimed he had refused to play in a Davis Cup tie.

The recently formed ATP - the governing body of men's tennis - said at the time that none of its members should compete if Pilic was banned. Ultimately, 13 of the men's 16 seeds withdrew, leading to 29 qualifiers and 50 lucky losers competing in the main draw.

It was a rare show of unity in the men's game in support of one player.

The ATP also threatened to boycott Wimbledon in 2004 in another disagreement over revenue distribution, while women's players discussed taking strike action in 2006, external over prize money at SW19.

Gauff mentioned the collective action by WNBA players, who held off on negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement, external for 17 months, ultimately securing an increase in salaries and a deal to receive 20% of the women's basketball league's revenue.

Some sports teams have boycotted major events over political issues.

England men's cricket team boycotted their 2003 World Cup match against Zimbabwe in Harare because of Robert Mugabe's ruling regime, while 67 of 147 nations did not compete at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan a year earlier.

In response, the Soviet Union and its allies boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

The prospect of the world's leading players boycotting a Grand Slam still seems a distant one, but Sabalenka's words - whether calculated or not - have breathed new life into a debate which had reached virtual stalemate.

Matching the level of support at Wimbledon in 1973 will take some doing because, as in any workplace, there will be players prepared to cross a metaphorical picket line outside the entrance to Centre Court.

Some will take that position because they do not agree with the course of action, and others because they see an opportunity to make money and establish a name for themselves by progressing deep into the draw.

It may also be a difficult argument for the players to win in the court of public opinion.

The argument they deserve a bigger slice of the huge revenues generated by the Grand Slams is not invalidated by inflation-busting prize money increases, but it may be harder to land when a tournament like the US Open offered a 20% rise and $5m prize money for last year's singles champions.

Wimbledon prize money has doubled in the past 10 years - and so have the show court ticket prices. Inflation in the UK over the same period stood at 38%.