PARIS (AP) 鈥� Ten questions into her pre-tournament news conference as the defending champion at the , announced she was done.
鈥淚 have to go. Sorry. I鈥檒l see you guys later,鈥� Gauff said as she got up and walked out.
That was about as serious as got at Roland Garros as interactions with reporters were limited to 15 minutes on Friday.
The players announced the limitation due to their displeasure about not getting a bigger share of tournament revenues at the clay-court Grand Slam, where play starts on Sunday. Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka had even .
鈥淚t shows a lot of us are all on the same page and have kind of a collective action other than just having conversations,鈥� Gauff said. 鈥淭his is the first real point of action we have done.鈥�
Players have criticized French Open organizers for of revenue to under 15% 鈥� compared to 22% at regular ATP and WTA Tour events.
Djokovic cites LIV Golf example
The only player who came near to approaching 15 minutes in the question and answer sessions was record 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who clocked in at 14 minutes, 48 seconds.
But Djokovic, who was celebrating his 39th birthday, said he wasn鈥檛 officially taking part in the protest. He still voiced an opinion on the subject, though, pointing to the schism between .
鈥淕olf is a good example of a professional individual global sport that has been through and is still going through very challenging times in terms of the governance and splitting tours and players,” Djokovic said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 try to be a bit more united and have a unifying voice into finding a better structure and better future for our sport.”
Larry Scott organizing the players
Larry Scott, the former WTA CEO and ex-commissioner of the Pac-10 collegiate sports conference, has been advising the players.
Fifth-ranked said the players with Scott鈥檚 help needed to find 鈥渁 middle ground of what we can do together that鈥檚 feasible the week before a Slam.
鈥淚f you try to talk about more extreme circumstances then all of a sudden people aren鈥檛 on board, you can鈥檛 get anything to happen.”
Roland Garros organizers increased the prize money by about 10%, after the U.S. Open last year raised their鈥檚 by 20% and this year鈥檚 Australian Open by 16%.
The entire French Open pot was 61.7 million euros ($72 million), up 5.3 million euros from last year. But the players claimed their share of Roland Garros revenue declined from 15.5% in 2024 to 14.9% projected in 2026.
Kostyuk, French players not protesting
Marta Kostyuk, who enters Roland Garros on an 11-match winning streak after clay-court titles in Rouen, France, and Madrid, wasn鈥檛 part of the protest.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 decide not to participate. I was just never asked to be in the discussion,鈥� the 15th-ranked Kostyuk said. 鈥淚鈥檓 still not a top 10 player, so that鈥檚 probably the reason. 鈥� I鈥檓 very happy to be part of the conversation and discussion. I always have something to say.鈥�
Corentin Moutet, a 32nd-ranked Frenchman known for his unconventional style of play, declared he was 鈥渘ot part of any movement.
鈥淚t’s an individual sport. If there was actually a movement, we would have known of it earlier,鈥� Moutet said. 鈥淲e all have our own interests, and my interest at the moment is to play better. 鈥� Sports has to be put before everything else.鈥�
Other French players also stayed out of the protest. Although host France doesn鈥檛 have any top 10 players, Arthur Fils at No. 19 is the top-ranked Frenchman and Lois Boisson, a semifinalist last year, is the top Frenchwoman at No. 50.
___
AP tennis:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
