Claim: Top tennis players will cap Wimbledon press conferences at 15 minutes to protest unfair tournament revenue sharing.

There’s now trouble at the upcoming Wimbledon. According to a report from Sports Business Journal, a group of the top tennis players is staging a protest to push for a greater share of the revenue generated from the Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open). 

It’s simple: They feel that while the tournaments are making mountains of money, the players who are the main attractions at such tournaments are left with a minuscule percentage of the revenue in prize money. While they are not refusing to participate, their protest is symbolic to send a message to the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. 

The players plan to limit their mandatory media interactions to just 15 minutes per day during the tournament’s opening week. With Wimbledon set to begin on Monday, June 29, 2026, the big question is: Is there any truth to this reported development? Here’s what we found. 

Our Verdict: True

The claim comes straight from Teneo, a communications firm hired by the group of players to lead their public messaging. The group announced on Wednesday, claiming it will limit its “contractual media commitments” at the tournament to just 15 minutes. Why 15 minutes exactly? Well, that’s where the symbolic part comes in. 

Per Reuters, earlier this month, AELTC announced a record year-on-year 20% rise in the total ‌prize money to £64.2 million for the players. But Teneo’s statement claims that, despite Wimbledon’s increase in the 2026 championship purse, the amount comes to less than 15 percent (14.4 percent) (£64.2M, or $84.5M) of the tournament’s projected 2026 revenue.

So, the players converted that 15 percent to 15 minutes of media interaction per day. Although the players welcomed the 20 percent year-on-year increase from Wimbledon, they wanted it to be 16 percent (£71M, or $93.4M) of Wimbledon’s projected revenues in the athlete compensation pool in 2026. 

They also argued that the current revenue share (14.4 percent) remains below the 14.9 percent figure allocated in 2015. The players’ eventual goal is to raise the revenue share to 22 percent by 2030. Notably, a similar protest had been staged by the players in last month’s media day at Roland Garros.

Wimbledon responded to the top players’ protest

After learning that the top players’ protest will bleed into Wimbledon, AELTC released a statement. 

“We are surprised and disappointed by this action,” a spokesperson for AELTC said, per Sky Sports. “Wimbledon puts the players at the heart of all our decisions, and we invest significantly in them every year. This is alongside investing hundreds of millions of pounds in upgrades to our player facilities as part of a three-year transformation to create a world-class player performance environment.”

The player group is advised by former WTA chief and ex-Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, with a majority of the ATP and WTA’s top 20-ranked players expected to take part in the protest. Leading stars such as Coco Gauff, Iga Świątek, Aryna Sabalenka, and Jannik Sinner were among those who backed the movement last month. 

However, Novak Djokovic has distanced himself from the protest, opting not to join the initiative.

Our fact-checking sources

• Sports Business Journal, June 24, 2026. Top tennis players planning another media protest at Wimbledon
• Wtopnews, June 24, 2026. Top tennis players to limit media appearances at Wimbledon as protest over prize money continues
• Tennis Now, June 12, 2026. Players Welcome Wimbledon Record Prize Money, Call for Transparent Revenue Sharing
• Sky Sports, June 25, 2026. Wimbledon 2026: All England Club ‘surprised and disappointed’ as leading players will continue prize money protests
• Reuters, June 25, 2026. Wimbledon surprised and disappointed as players plan protest