TENNIS: Sabalenka says Wimbledon protest for struggling players

LONDON- Wimbledon top seed Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday defended a prize-money protest by leading players despite the grass court Grand Slam increasing its pot by a record 20% this year.

The world number one is in a group represented by former WTA chief executive Larry Scott who are demanding a bigger slice of the Grand Slam pie and improved player welfare.

Wimbledon's £64.2 million pot this year equates to about 15% of the tournament's revenue, short of the 16% — about £70 million — the players sought.

As at the French Open, where Sabalenka and others restricted their pre-tournament media duties in protest, the Belarusian held a shortened press conference.

"It's a great start they raise the prize money. It's an amazing start. If you look over the last 10 years, if you compare the prize money to 2016, it's kind of like the same (as a percentage) because it went down," she told reporters.

"I really hope we can finally get to the table and really get it done, come to a conclusion that everyone's going to be happy with. Hopefully we'll never have to do it again."

A first Wimbledon title would earn Sabalenka £3.6 million, up from the £3 million paid to 2025 champions Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner.

First-round losers will receive £80,000, up from £66,000.

Asked whether top players' complaints, given many are multimillionaires, might not sit well with a public facing rising ticket and food prices, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion said: "We do it for the tour, we don't do it for ourselves."

"We do it for the rest of the players who are suffering to even hire a coach. It's not an easy life for lower-ranked players.

"I'm more than sure the crowd understand. I mean, we're playing matches, we're there, we're competing, we're bringing the show. Now we are just limiting our media. We're just trying to get to something that everyone is happy with."

The All England Club said this week it was "surprised and disappointed" by the protest and that its proposed player council to resolve issues had been rejected.

"This year's total prize money is the largest increase in our event's history. This is alongside investing hundreds of millions of pounds in upgrades to our player facilities as part of a three-year transformation to create a world class player performance environment," it said.

Sabalenka, 28, arrived at Wimbledon with her confidence dented after imploding at the French Open and losing the last 10 games of her quarter-final against Russian Diana Shnaider.

She said she has now moved on from that with the help of her psychologist.

"Overall I feel like things are clicking back together."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Hugh Lawson)