French Open 2026: Aryna Sabalenka cuts short news conference as top players protest over Grand Slam prize money

Belarus' Sabalenka has been a leading voice in the recent discussions and recently said players will boycott a Grand Slam "at some point" over the dispute. The 28-year-old spent five minutes with the host broadcaster for an on-camera interview before a 10-minute news conference with written reporters. She ended the English-speaking portion of her news conference to allow time for questions from her nation's reporters. "I'm here to talk to you because I have respect for you guys," Sabalenka said. "We just wanted to make our point and we are united - 15 minutes is better than zero. "As I said a thousand times today, I have huge respect, but we know what's happening here, so thank you so much." Former world number one Djokovic did not participate because he was not part of the action or the discussions leading to it. "I haven't been part of the process, the conversation, the planning or decision-making so I can't comment on that," the 24-time major champion said. "But what I can do is reiterate my own position that I have always been on the players' side and tried to advocate for players' rights and better future for players. "We tend to forget how little the number of people that live from this sport is. I will never stop mentioning or talking about that."