Report: More Details on Player Protest at Roland-Garros Media Day

The planned player media protest at Roland-Garros appears to be taking clearer shape. Media day will take place on Friday at the French Open, but it will have a decidedly different feel. 

According to new reporting from The Athletic, the original plan to limit press conferences to 15 minutes has now reportedly been reduced to 10-minute sessions, followed by a five-minute interview with a host broadcaster for rights-holder distribution.

Players also reportedly intend to refuse media day interviews with Roland-Garros media partners, including TNT Sports and Eurosport, though both the interview boycott and reduced media obligations are currently expected to last for just one day.

Lois Boisson, Mirra Andreeva, Taylor Fritz, Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev and Stan Wawrinka are all scheduled for press conferences on Friday in Paris. 

The protest stems from growing player frustration surrounding Grand Slam revenue sharing and governance issues. Several top ATP and WTA players have argued that the majors generate massive revenues while returning too small a percentage to players through prize money and benefits. According to the Athletic, the players have chosen the sum of 15 minutes as a symbolic nod to the fact that they are only receiving approximately 15 percent of total revenues at the Grand Slam events. 

The players want their portion of revenue sharing to come in closer to 22 percent. 

The French Tennis Federation responded publicly on Wednesday, expressing disappointment over the planned action. 

“We regret the players’ decision, which impacts all of the tournament’s stakeholders,” an FFT spokesperson said, while adding that the federation remains open to “direct and constructive dialogue” regarding governance, player welfare and revenue distribution.

The FFT also confirmed that a meeting with player representatives is scheduled to take place Friday in Paris. The meeting will reportedly take place later in the day, after media day, so the 15-minute protest should go on as planned. 

The situation has quickly become one of the dominant off-court storylines ahead of this year’s Roland-Garros, with tensions between players and the Grand Slams continuing to escalate.