Record Australian open prize money a step forward, but not enough: Coco Gauff

MELBOURNE: Coco Gauff said the Australian Open's record prize pool represents "progress" but stressed it remains short of what players believe is fair, as pressure mounts on the Grand Slams to share a greater portion of tournament revenues.The season-opening major, which gets underway on Sunday, announced a 16 per cent increase in total prize money to A$111.5 million (US$75 million). The men's and women's singles champions will each receive A$4.15 million, a 19 per cent increase from last year.When questioned over the rise this Friday, two-time Grand Slam winner Gauff said: "The percentage is still, of revenue comparison, not where we would like it."I think there's still further conversations that have to be had, not just with the Australian Open, but with all the slams."The best players of both men and women came together last year to ask for a larger slice of the action in the Grand Slam tournaments, contributions towards welfare packages such as pensions, and a say in decisions that impact them.“The collective feeling is that there has been progress,” Gauff added, “but I still think it's not where we would like to see it.”The players believe that their demands for a transformation in tennis will be beneficial for the entire tennis world and will not be limited to only those tennis players who rank high. According to a statement from Gauff, the discussions could escalate in 2026."I think no one wants this conversation to be continuing for years and years."So I would imagine that we would continue to have those conversations and maybe more pressure being applied with especially the top 10."Men’s world number three Alexander Zverev was less encouraged, saying he did not feel meaningful progress had been made."Don't really feel like there's any progress, to be honest," the German said."I feel like it's just a lot of talk, a lot of time invested into it, and not really any changes."Women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, said: "I think we always can do better,""But I think all of the slams, they are trying to work together with us and come to a conclusion. I hope one day we'll get to a happy place for everyone."