Australian Open 2026: Madison Keys, Alexander Zverev and Coco Gauff demand bigger Grand Slam prize money and welfare benefits

There are three broad areas of interest that players want to address:

The dialogue between the players’ group – represented by former WTA president and CEO Larry Scott – and the Grand Slam power brokers began about a year ago.

In March, the players sent a letter to the major leagues requesting a meeting.

Keys, along with Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner, Alex de Minaur, Casper Ruud and Coco Gauff, met with the captains of all four Grand Slams at last year’s French Open to discuss their concerns.

This was followed by individual meetings with each tournament at Wimbledon, attended on behalf of the players by Zverev, ranked third in the world for men, and Belinda Bencic, who reached the semi-finals for women.

Opinions were divided regarding the usefulness of these meetings.

Keys called it “the most productive conversations we’ve ever had.”

“[That] “This leads me to be optimistic about the future,” the world number nine said on Friday.

“But I really think it’s in everyone’s best interest that we continue to be good partners to each other. We all need each other.”

“We all want to try to do whatever we can to support each other.”

Zverev does not share this confidence. The 27-year-old German attended the meetings as a representative of the ATP Tour and was part of the Players Council, but felt there was too much talk and not enough action.

This is due to the fragmented nature of tennis administration and the separate bodies – the Grand Slam, the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour and the International Tennis Federation – which have their own interests to look after.

“Sometimes I feel that the governing bodies do not get along well,” said Zverev, who finished runner-up at Melbourne Park last year.

“It is very difficult to get them in one room and talk about what is good for the future of tennis.

“Maybe the question is towards these people more than the players, because we are just spectators.”