"Rich people problems" - Fans feel for lower-ranked players as Jessica Pegula & other top 20 ATP, WTA stars demand Grand Slam prize money hike

Fans made their feelings known about the Top 20 ATP and WTA players, including Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, demanding a prize money hike at Grand Slam events. Many fans feel the hike should take place at lower-level events or a much earlier stage in the Majors so that it could help lower-ranked players.

L'Euipe reported that the representatives of the Top 20 ATP and WTA stars have written a letter to all four Grand Slam events, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, to increase the share of prize money with respect to profits earned.

The news about this letter was shared on Reddit and X, and fans had a similar sentiment of wanting the hike for lower-ranked players.

"More for those outside the top 20 would go a long way," one fan wrote.

"Ah rich people problems," another fan wrote.

Comment byu/theriverjordan from discussion intennis

"There should be more money/resources distributed to the lower-ranked players," a third fan wrote.

Here are some fan reactions on X to the news about the Top 20 players, including Jessica Pegula, signing a letter demanding a prize money hike at Majors.

"Are you kidding me? Nobody deserves a 2.5 mil cheque for 2 weeks work. They are getting paid enough. Hike the pay Pay to those who play qualifiers until round 3. I think they make enough after round 4," one fan wrote.

"Prize money needs to improve for challenger and 250/500 events. Slam singles already gets tons. Maybe should distribute some among earlier rounds and doubles," another fan wrote.

"I think that is more of a need for the player ranked far below the top 20," yet another fan wrote.

This letter came amid the controversial lawsuit filed by Novak Djokovic-backed PTPA against the ATP, WTA, and other tennis authorities. Although several top stars admitted that they were uninformed about the PTPA's lawsuit, Pegula and Navarro have confirmed their involvement in the latest letter.

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Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro open up about the top WTA & ATP players' letter demanding a hike in prize money at Grand Slams

Jessica Pegula at the Credit One Charleston Open - Source: Getty

World No. 4 Jessica Pegula and World No. 11 Emma Navarro are competing at the Charleston Open. They have both notched winning starts to the event and will play in the third round on Thursday, April 3.

In their campaigns, a report about the top ATP and WTA stars signing a letter demanding a prize money hike at Grand Slams was released. They were asked about their involvement, and both responded positively without giving away much information.

"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. Hopefully we'll have more information about that soon but I don't want to go into that too much because, I don't know, I shouldn't," Jessica Pegula said.

Meanwhile, Navarro also echoed a similar stance.

"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. And, yeah, I think there have been, I guess, some sort of unfair pay ratios — I don’t know the correct terminology — but in the past. And I think it’s a good cause to sort of come together as players and make sure we’re getting treated fairly," Navarro said.

In the Charleston Open third round, fourth seed Navarro is set to take on compatriot 15th seed Ashlyn Krueger, while top seed Pegula will battle against Ajla Tomljanovic.