By Julien Pretot
PARIS, May 22 (Reuters) - A simmering dispute between players and the Grand Slams over revenue sharing intensified at the French Open on Friday, with Novak Djokovic warning the sport risked further fragmentation as leading players pressed for a greater voice in shaping its future.
Several players were expected to limit their appearances at Friday's traditional pre-tournament media day to 15 minutes and without conducting any additional multi-media interviews.
The tensions have been
building for weeks but the rhetoric sharpened in Paris, where players such as Taylor Fritz insisted that their grievances were not just about "wanting more money".
"It's about just wanting what's fair," the American added.
"As the tournaments make more money, we obviously want to see the revenue shared back to the players reflect that."
Players have pointed to pensions, tournament expansion, scheduling and late-night finishes among the issues fuelling frustration, alongside what several described as a persistent lack of dialogue from organisers.
Russian Andrey Rublev painted a picture of widening disconnect between players and the sport's leadership.
"When you try to communicate for so many years... they don't hear you. They don't answer," Rublev said. "When you send the mail in, no one responds to official mail for months."
Rublev said the issue was not simply financial but structural.
"It's more about are we together, and we try to do something together to grow the sport," he said.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka cast the debate as a struggle on behalf of the sport’s lesser lights rather than its leading stars.
"It's not about me. It's about the players who's lower in the ranking, who is suffering," she said. "But as the world number one, I feel like I have to stand up and to fight for those players."
'B' WORD
Even so, players adopted a more cautious tone over the prospect of a boycott after Sabalenka raised the possibility earlier this month in Rome.
"I don't know if I want to start throwing around the 'B' word," Fritz said.
"It's a really big deal, and I don't think we as players should really make big threats like that unless we're fully ready to do it."
Six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek also stopped short of endorsing drastic action.
"I don't think doing something that is not constructive will make sense," the four-time French Open winner said. "But we want to push a bit more to get what we need."
Djokovic said he was not personally involved in the planned 15-minute media action but aligned himself with many of the players' broader concerns while warning against further division in the sport.
"I have always been on the players' side and tried to advocate for players' rights and better future for players, but not only top players," the 24-time Grand Slam champion said.
"We tend to forget how little is the number of people that live from this sport."
Djokovic said the lower tiers of professional tennis were essential to the game's long-term health and called for greater unity between governing bodies, tournaments and players.
"Grand Slams, governing bodies, the governing tours, everyone. We are very fragmented," he said.
"So the further fragmentation is really hurting me personally. I really don't like to see that."
The Serbian also pointed to golf and the divisions caused by the emergence of LIV Golf as a warning for tennis.
"Let's learn from that. Let's try to be a bit more united and have a unifying voice into finding better structure and better future for our sport," he said.
While top ATP and WTA events redistribute around 22% of revenues to players, the Grand Slams are estimated to return closer to 15%, a gap that has become a central source of tension.
French Open organisers have been arguing that tournament profits fund entire national tennis ecosystems, not just prize money.
They are expected to meet player agents on Friday as discussions continue over revenue sharing and player representation.
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said she regretted the prospect of reduced media access at the start of the claycourt Grand Slam.
"It's always regrettable because media day is an important moment for the tournament, for journalists who come from all over the world and also for the fans through the media coverage," Mauresmo told reporters on Thursday.
"We understand that there are discussions and concerns from the players, but dialogue is always preferable."
(Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
