Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff among players who signed the letter sent to Grand Slams: Reports

The tennis world saw another recent development crop up, as the top-ranked men's and women's players took the initiative to write a letter to the Grand Slam events to have a more significant say within the events. The letter was sent to the respective parties (in this case, the four representatives of the four Major events) on March 21.

The letter bears the signatures of all the top-10 ranked players in both men's and women's tennis. In the case of the women, barring the notable omission of Elena Rybakina, all other players in the top 11 have signed the letter, including the likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Aryna Sabalenka.

On the men's side, the signatories include 24-time Major champion Novak Djokovic and the current top three - Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and Carlos Alcaraz - and the other members of the top 10.

In one of the three demands in the letter, players have urged the Grand Slams to increase prize money to have a better share of the total revenue. Currently, the US Open, with a total prize pot of $75 million, is the most lucrative Major, followed by Wimbledon ($64 million), and the Australian Open and the French Open ($58 million each).

The players have also urged the Grand Slams to open their purses and contribute to the welfare programs on both the ATP and the WTA Tour. Finally, the players wish to have a more significant say in Grand Slam decisions that directly influence player welfare and safety.

The letter was addressed to Craig Tiley (Australian Open), Stephane Morel (French Open), Sally Bolton (Wimbledon), and Lew Sherr (US Open), and requested the audience of those four individuals in a meeting with the player's representatives to discuss the issues before the upcoming Madrid Open in late April.

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In light of the signed letter from Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff, and others, a look at what their colleagues said

In Picture: Jessica Pegula (Getty)

After the letter came into the public spotlight, players who had signed the document came out and made their respective positions clear on the matter. World No. 4 Jessica Pegula did not want to disclose too much but acknowledged that the letter was formed after appropriate discussions between the players and the business representatives on the ATP and the WTA Tours.

"I mean, that's something I don't want to talk about it too much. It's just something that we're working with our PBRs, WTA and ATP PBRs with." said Pegula.

Meanwhile, Pegula's compatriot Emma Navarro, another top-10 player, stated that she had signed the letter after discussing it with her peers on the Tour.

"Yeah. I haven’t — I guess I haven’t given that a ton of my energy. I talked a little bit to the other players about it and felt like it was a good idea to sign." said Navarro.

Zheng Qinwen, also in favor of the letter, claimed that increased prize money at the Slams would benefit all players, not only the top-ranked ones.

"I think that that's going to be more beneficial for all the players, not only the top players, especially for those players that work hard during all the years and need to get paid from the Slams." said Zheng.