Aryna Sabalenka joins Iga Swiatek in addressing the letter they signed about 'deserving' higher prize money

Aryna Sabalenka recently shared her thoughts on the current revenue distribution in tennis, which has been much talked about since the Novak Djokovic-led PTPA filed a class action lawsuit against ATP and other big organizations of the sport. The Belarusian was also admittedly not impressed with the inequitable income that tennis pros receive compared to their peers in NBA and NHL.

The Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) sued ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA in a New York-based court in March, alleging that tennis' governing bodies were operating as a "cartel" and had failed to cater to the players' financial interests. However, the lawsuit left out World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and several other top names in its list of plaintiffs.

The 26-year-old ultimately banded together with Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and other stars earlier this month to write a letter to all of the four Majors, where they asked for higher prize money along with a few more benefits. Swiatek has since spoken about the above letter, expressing hopes that the players would receive a better share of the revenue at the Grand Slam tournaments soon.

Speaking at her press conference ahead of the 2025 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Aryna Sabalenka echoed her archrival's sentiments as she claimed that tennis pros "deserve to be paid a little bit more" as they essentially bring in the viewership.

"I think we deserve to get a bit bigger percentage," Aryna Sabalenka told the media in Stuttgart on Tuesday. "And, yeah, I agree with that, because I think all of us, top players, all of the players, we bring the show. I think we deserve to be paid a little bit more."

Swiatek, meanwhile, had inferred in her pre-tournament presser at this week's Porsche Tennis Grand Prix that a better share of the overall income for ATP and WTA players was long overdue. She also alluded to how professional sports leagues like NBA and NFL had a better revenue split while discussing the letter sent to the Major tournaments.

"Well, I think, like, there's some data available on the Internet about the comparison between tennis and other sports," Iga Swiatek told the media in Stuttgart on Monday. "For sure we've been discussing with Grand Slams about many topics. Yeah, I mean, it could be better, but I'm not going to say a lot because, first of all, we need to figure it out kind of internally."

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Aryna Sabalenka: "If we compare tennis to the rest of the sports, it's a huge difference in percentage"

In Picture: Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka at a practice session at WTA Finals | Image Source: Getty

Aryna Sabalenka echoed Iga Swiatek's sentiments regarding the poor revenue distribution in tennis relative to basketball and American football in her press conference on Tuesday (April 15).

"Well, I would say that if we compare tennis to the rest of the sports, like, it's a huge difference in percentage we are receiving compared to NHL or NBA and the rest of the sports," Sabalenka said.

The 26-year-old Belarusian is the top seed at this week's WTA 500 tournament in Stuttgart. She will face Russia's Anastasia Potatpova in the first round later on Thursday (April 17).