Two-time Grand Slam champion and America’s World No. 1 Coco Gauff has warned that pressure from athletes will come if their demands are not met and no actions are taken on an increase in pay in Grand Slam events. Last year in April, top athletes brought in light and urged the authorities to bring in a significant increase in prize money.
On Monday, January 19, following her first-round win over Kamilla Rakhimova by 6-2, 6-3, Gauff spoke to the reporters, saying that no action has been taken on the matter and believes athletes will soon start protesting over this if no plans come into effect.
She said, “I feel like that will have to be a collective decision that we would all have to talk about. I do know players are going to put more pressure on the Slams if certain things aren’t being met where we see it.”
Meanwhile, Australia Open director Craig Tiley says that he has not received any concerns or negative feedback from any athlete so far about the event. He is relieved with the response he has gotten from speaking directly to players, but in fact, he agrees that players should get a pay increase, with over 500 players participating in Grand Slams.
Speaking to the Australian Financial Review (AFR), Tiley said, “I’ve also spoken to the players directly, not through third agents, and they are very happy with the Australian Open. Not one of them has shown any dissatisfaction to me about what we are doing. And I’m not really concerned with what’s said because I know the facts.”
“As I said from the beginning, I believe the players should continue to be paid more and more players paid more, we have 128 in the main draw and 128 qualifying (men and women), so we are supporting over 500 players financially each Grand Slam,” he added.
According to Tennis Australia (TA), the Australian Open has had a hike in prize money to $74.56 million for the ongoing season, which is more than the 2025 French Open sum of $65.42 million, as well as Wimbledon, which was worth $71.60 million. However, the U.S. Open’s purse was the highest of last year, going at $90 million.
Gauff will next play Serbia’s Olga Danilović on Wednesday, January 21, in the second-round match of the ongoing Australian Open 2026.
