Sabalenka Leads French Open Push as €61.7 Million Rises 9.5 Percent

The french open lifted its 2026 prize money to €61.7 million, but top ATP and WTA players answered with collective disappointment. The increase is 9.5 percent from 2025, yet the player group says the prize pool will still equal only 15 percent of projected revenue.

Sabalenka and the March Letter

Aryna Sabalenka was among 20 signatories on the March 2025 letter that pushed the four majors on financial commitments, and the latest figure keeps that pressure in focus. The group said joint ATP and WTA Tour events award 22 percent of revenue to players, a gap that sits at the center of their complaint.

They were blunt about the split. The statement described “collective disappointment” and said, “As Roland Garros looks to post record revenues, players are therefore receiving a declining share of the value they help create,” before adding that “the Grand Slams remain resistant to change.”

Roland-Garros Response

The French Tennis Federation said the 2026 Roland-Garros purse represents a 9.53 percent increase compared to 2025 and roughly a 45 percent increase since 2019. It added that it has recently invested more than €400 million in Roland-Garros infrastructure, and said all tournament revenues are reinvested into the event and tennis development in France and internationally.

Its statement also said the federation focused some of the increases on players who exit in the early rounds of the main draw and the qualifying stages, with rises exceeding 11%, “as to better support players who rely most on prize money to fund their season.”

May 24, 2026 Start

The tournament starts May 24, 2026, with the prize-money dispute now sitting in front of the sport’s biggest stage. The gap between a 15 percent share and the players’ cited 22 percent benchmark leaves the majors under renewed scrutiny, and Sabalenka’s name on the March letter shows the challenge is coming from the top of both tours.