When the Grand Slams agreed to concede to the players’ request to form an independent Players’ Council, it was seen as a big win for the players. Now that the brand-new council has been unveiled, fans liked the look of the members. However, the absence of two of the biggest stars, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, raised questions.
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“And we’re off…note the Jovic-to-Djokovic age range. This is encouraging,” said tennis insider John Wertheim on X as he shared the look of the new Grand Slam Player Council. The council had six members, each from the ATP and WTA, with Novak Djokovic as the biggest name on the men’s side, along with Alexander Zverev, Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Lorenzo Musetti, and Arthur Rinderknech.
On the WTA’s side, the council included some of the top players in the sport, including Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Elina Svitolina, and the likes of Maria Sakkari and Iva Jovic, with Jovic being the youngest player on the Council. Even though the group has some notable names, the absence of Alcaraz and Sinner is quite stark, given that they are two of the top names in men’s tennis right now, and the Grand Slams would have benefited from the input those two had to share.
Given that both Sinner and Alcaraz had been part of the pay dispute, their absence has come as quite a surprise. Both had strong opinions on the matters at hand, with Sinner reportedly considering boycotting the US Open mixed doubles if the revenue-share demands were not met. For Alcaraz, even though he distanced himself from the pay dispute recently, he has had strong opinions on the tennis schedule during the recently concluded Laver Cup.
The demand for a separate Player Council at the Grand Slams was a part of the larger pay dispute that some top players were engaged in with the Majors this year. Things came to a head at the French Open, where players like Aryna Sabalenka led media protests by limiting their press conference times, when the tournament did not agree to a 22 percent revenue split as the players demanded.
However, since then, the Grand Slams have made many willing concessions, with the French Open agreeing to a revenue share and the US Open offering a hundred-million-dollar-plus prize pool this year. The Player Council shows careful thought and planning on the part of the Grand Slams, as it has the likes of Djokovic and Pegula, who have the experience of being members of previous organizations, with Djokovic being the founding member of the PTPA and Pegula being a member of the WTA Players’ Council and having the role of chair of the Tour Architecture Council on the WTA.
Having members with previous experience on councils will help the new Grand Slam Players Council engage in productive dialogue regarding future arrangements for revenue and prize money at the Majors. Another key point of discussion would be scheduling, given how often matches have finished deep into the night at Grand Slams in recent years.
However, for fans, the absence of Sinner and Alcaraz raised many questions, with fans expressing their surprise on social media.
Fans React to Alcaraz and Sinner’s Absence From Grand Slam Player Council
The absence of Alcaraz and Sinner was quite staggering, instantly drawing fans’ attention, with one fan saying, “Why aren’t Sinner and Alcaraz involved?”
Another fan said, “Curious why Sinner and Alcaraz took a pass.”
Alcaraz has recently made headlines with his comments about scheduling, with the seven-time Major champion admitting he will play a lighter schedule from next year during his run at the US Open. The Spaniard also pointed out the difficulty of playing late-night matches at Slams, given his record-breaking finish against Ben Shelton at the US Open.
“Alcaraz loves making punchy headlines with the press, but not willing to sit down and do business at the table”, said a fan.
Another fan pointed out that it was bad optics not to have the sport’s two top stars on the council. “Not a good look when your two best young stars aren’t on board. Wonder if you know why @jon_wertheim,” said the fan.
“Good to see someone young like Jovic getting involved No Sinner or Alcaraz…not a good look,” said another fan.
Fans were mostly thrilled with the inclusion of Iva Jovic, as the 18-year-old would be the ideal representative of the next generation of players on the Council. However, that did not stop the focus from being on the absence of Sinner and Alcaraz.