Sabalenka defends Wimbledon awards show, says it’s for struggling players | Tennis news

The world champion is among the players who want to bring back more prizes at the Grand Slams.

Wimbledon top champion Aryna Sabalenka has defended the prize money of the leading players even as the grass Grand Slam increased its pot by a record 20 percent this year.

The world champion is in a group represented by former WTA chief Larry Scott, who is want a small plot about the Grand Slam pie and the health of the players.

This year’s Wimbledon pot of 64.2 million pounds ($84.7m) is equivalent to about 15 percent of player earnings, 16 percent short of the roughly 70 million pounds ($92.4m) players are seeking.

As at the French Open, where ⁠Sabalenka and others suspended their media careers before the tournament in protest, the Belarusian held a short rally.

“It’s a good start, they raise the prize money. It’s a wonderful start. If you look at the last 10 years, if you compare the prize money with 2016, it’s the same (as a percentage) because it went down,” said the press.

“I’m hoping that eventually we’ll get to the table and get it done, thinking everyone’s happy with it. Hopefully, we don’t have to.”

The first Wimbledon title could earn Sabalenka 3.6 million pounds ($4.7m), from the 3 million pounds ($4m) awarded to 2025 champions Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner.

Early losers will receive 80,000 pounds ($106,000), up from 66,000 pounds ($87.1m).

When asked if the complaints of top players, because most of them are multi-billionaires, they will not be happy with the increase in ticket and food prices, the four-time Grand Slam champion said, “We do this on the tour, we don’t do it ourselves.”

“We do this for some players who are struggling to hire a coach. It is not an easy life for low-level players.

“I’m sure the crowd understands. I mean, we’re playing the match, we’re there, we’re competing, we’re bringing the show. Now, we’re just cutting back on our media coverage.

The All England Club said this week it was “shocked and disappointed” by the protests and that its players’ union bid to end the crisis had been rejected. “This year’s total awards are the largest in the history of our event.

This includes investing hundreds of millions of pounds in upgrading our playing facilities as part of a three-year transformation to create the world’s best sports facilities,” he said.

Sabalenka, 28, arrived at Wimbledon with her confidence low run to the French Open and lost the last 10 games of her quarterfinal against Russian Diana Shnaider.

He said that he has now left with the help of his psychologist.

“Overall, I feel like things are coming back together.”