By Simon Cambers
NEW YORK Aug 29 (Reuters) – Leading tennis players say they
are unlikely to boycott the Australian Open over a row about
prize money, but feel change is inevitable.
The male players are united in their belief that the four
grand slam events – Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, French Open and
Australian Open – should give them a greater percentage of
overall tournament revenue.
Prize money at the grand slams varies between 11 and 16
percent and the ATP players’ council, with Roger Federer as its
president, met on the eve of the U.S. Open to discuss the
issues.
But though rumours emerged of a possible boycott, Olympic
champion Andy Murray said he thought that would not be the right
way to go.
“The majority of players want to see a change in the grand
slams but who knows what’s going to happen,” Murray told
reporters. “I hope it doesn’t come down to that. I think that’s
bad for everybody, really.”
Former world number one Andy Roddick, like Murray one of the
leading campaigners for increased revenue, said all the players
were on the same page but that change is likely to take time.
“I’m on board with whatever the contemporaries come up with
(but) at this point it’s the same old song,” the American said.
“The ATP, the ITF, powers that be, are betting against us
being able to unify, they have been getting away with that
gamble for 25 years and we haven’t proved them wrong yet. That’s
where we stand.
Continued…
