Many top players, including Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff, and others, have been calling for major changes to the sport’s biggest tournaments. Given the astronomical sums these four majors make, the demands have been simple: a fairer distribution of prize money for lower-ranked players.
However, with no response from management, the players continue to protest on social media, often speaking during interviews, while Pegula shared her opinions during the 2026 Miami Open.
Jessica Pegula Talks About Grand Slam Prize Money Distribution After Miami Open Loss
Pegula maintained her streak of reaching at least the quarterfinals of the last nine tournaments she has been in by defeating Jaqueline Cristian in the fourth-round match. However, she wasn’t able to keep her run alive at Hard Rock Stadium, as she faced the world No. 2 Elena Rybakina, who won 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
During her post-match press conference, an interviewer asked Pegula about her reaction to one particular tweet that talked about the prize money distribution in the ATP/WTA governed tournaments compared to the four majors. He mentioned the contribution made by those majors for the development of the sport, with three of them being under national associations, while Wimbledon contributes heavily to the LTA.
Pegula calmly answered these queries, stating that “You don’t know unless you ask, right? If you push for some sort of change, sometimes you have to fight for what you think is right.”
She then shared her thoughts on the discussions surrounding the prize money at these majors, saying, “It’s about the percentage of prize money more so just because we’ve seen how much more money they have made. US Open is making so much money. I think it’s one of the highest grossing, if not the highest grossing sporting event in the world.”
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She mentioned the prize money increase at the US Open in 2025, which majorly benefited the top players who reached the latter stages of the tournament. “Fair enough, last year they did increase some of the prize money more to the top, which isn’t really exactly what we wanted, but at least it shows that they’re somewhat aware of increasing that.”
She then brought up the main reason behind these demands, saying, “We just want the ecosystem of our sport to continue to be sustainable for all players. The tours (ATP and WTA) give a lot back to player welfare, we don’t see that from them (majors).”
She mentioned the various other events these tournaments organize and called it fair to ask for more money for the lower-ranked players. “As we’ve seen, whether it’s through inflation or whatnot, is that the needle isn’t really moving as much as it may seem because, oh, it’s increased so much this year and we’ve increased it again this year and this year, but they’re making x amount more money and more money every single year,” Pegula said.
“I think it’s just balancing that out, and we see that in a lot of other sports as well. We’ve seen a lot of these stories of lower ranked players that they survive on a slam paycheck for their whole year. We just want to see the ecosystem of the sport continue to grow,” the American stated before concluding.
The main concern behind the requests made by these top players is the fact that lower-ranked players are the ones who need more support from the tournament, rather than the top stars. Players who struggle a lot in their early rounds should be benefited more even if they lose in the first round is what Gauff, Pegula, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and others have been advocating for.
The Grand Slam representatives were supposed to meet with the top 10 WTA and ATP players in March during the Indian Wells Open, but the players turned it down when no signs of improvement were seen.
It would be interesting to see what actions the organizers take on this discussion, whether they come to an agreement or whether the conditions continue as they are.
