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Aryna Sabalenka cut short her French Open press conference on Friday, as she protests for an increase in the percentage of revenue the Grand Slams pay their players.
The world No. 1 is one of the 20 top tennis players, including Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff, who have expressed "disappointment" at the revenue percentage players are allocated at the slams.
To protest the pay, the top players are limiting their press conference to just 15 minutes.
At the moment, players believe they are only paid 15.5 per cent of the tournament's revenue, a seven per cent decrease compared to allocations on ATP and WTA Tour events.
Symbolising the 15 per cent cut, players limited their media activity to 15 minutes, comprising a 10-minute press conference and a five-minute interview with the host broadcaster, and refused any additional media duties.
Sabalenka was previously praised by Novak Djokovic for taking a stance on the matter, and on Friday, the four-time Grand Slam champion followed her own footsteps again.
"It's not about me. It's about the players who are lower in the ranking, who are suffering," said the 28-year-old.
She added, "But as the world No 1, I feel like I have to stand up and to fight for those players."
Talking to the press, Sabalenka said, "I stand with my words."
"We wanted to do it in a respectful way at the beginning, and you guys know how much we respect you and we appreciate you. It's not about you, it's just we are trying to fight for a fair percentage."
"As I said a thousand times today, I have huge respect, but we know what's happening here, so thank you so much," she said.
Moreover, tournament bosses at the French Open spoke of their "regret" at the situation earlier this week. They shared that they were looking forward to working with the players and have scheduled a meeting on Friday.
