By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday April 4, 2025
Casper Ruud World No.6 is, in theory at least, one of the players that co-signed a recent letter sent by the Top 20 players of the ATP and WTA to the four Grand Slams.
This weekend, while playing at UTS in Nimes, France, the Norwegian talked about the importance of the stated goal of said letter: increasing the percentage of revenue sharing that the players earn at the major tournaments.
“As a player, I don’t feel like it’s fair,” Ruud told the AFP. “If you compare with other major sports around the world – NFL, MLB, NBA – they are closer to 50 percent revenue sharing,” Ruud told the AFP. “I don’t think we’ll ever get there. But if we can get closer, I think every percentage helps.”
Ruud says that he and his peers are left in the dark as to what the operating expenses of the Grand Slams are, so they don’t really have a good gauge of true profit.
“The biggest thing that I don’t think people know enough is the revenue sharing of the Grand Slams and where they make their money or how they distribute their revenue,” he said.
But Ruud and other players don’t appreciate the lack of transparency, or the fact that big decisions that increase revenues and change player requirements are made without even consulting the players.
He cited the fact that Roland-Garros and the US Open have recently switched to 15-day events.
“Most of them, they make these types of decisions without even talking with the players, asking for their opinions,” Ruud said. “So there are certain things that Slams have done in the last years where we feel like it’s time to react and ask for a meeting and then to discuss different topics.”
According to the AFP, a representative from the FFT confirmed reception of the letter and said that they have requested a meeting with the players at Madrid, or Roland-Garros, to discuss matters further. “We responded by proposing a direct, open, and constructive meeting, starting at the Madrid Open (April 22-May 4), at Roland Garros (May 25-June 8), or at any other convenient time,” the FFT source told the AFP.
