The boycott talk from Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner has been very interesting. But behind the scenes, it has been Jessica Pegula, the runner-up of the US Open 2024, organizing the best tennis players in their protests and gossip about the portion of the proceeds of the tournament given to prize money.
It comes naturally to Pegula, who grew up in a sports executive household: his parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres.
“I think maybe (it comes naturally) just because I feel like I’ve taken a leadership role with it,” Pegula said.
Already this year, Pegula’s No. 5 was named to lead a new 13-member panel to recommend changes to the women’s tennis calendar, ranking rules and requirements for tournaments in some events. Now he is taking up the prize money issue as well.
“I’m not afraid to go to any type of player and say, ‘Hey, are you interested in this or not?'” Pegula said. “Other players, they don’t care, sometimes they don’t worry about it. Sometimes they’re like, ‘Yeah, definitely, I’m 100 percent’. I’ve been reaching out to players on both the men’s and women’s sides.”
Sabalenka said last week the players should consider boycotting a large portion of tournament revenue, while Sinner said there was a lack of respect.
