Alcaraz and Sabalenka Reject Grand Slam Offer Just Days After Australian Open
Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are reportedly among a group of top players to reject an offer from three Grand Slams.
On Sunday, Alcaraz won his maiden Australian Open title by beating 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.
At the age of 22 years, 8 months and 27 days, the Spaniard also became the youngest male player to complete a career Grand Slam of winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open at least once.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka was beaten in the final of the women's singles, losing to Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-4, 4-6.
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That was the second successive Australian Open final defeat for Sabalenka, having lost to American Madison Keys in 2025.
Just a few days after the conclusion of the first Grand Slam of the 2026 season, it has been claimed that Alcaraz and Sabalenka are part of a group of top players to reject an offer from three of the four majors.
As reported by The Guardian, the world's top 10 male and female players, which include Alcaraz and Sabalenka, have rejected an offer from Grand Slams to set up a player council.
It has been claimed that the proposed player council would 'give them a greater say in the running of the major championships'.
However, it has been stated that the players rejected an offer of a meeting at March's Indian Wells Masters with representatives of the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon.
In a letter sent to the three Grand Slams, the players 'accused the tournament organisers of ignoring their concerns about pay and player welfare'.
As per The Guardian, the letter read: "Before committing to another meeting, it would be more productive for the grand slams to provide substantive responses, individually or collectively, to the specific proposals the players have put forward regarding prize money at a fair share of grand slam revenues, and player health, welfare, and benefits contributions.
"While the players recognise that governance structures can play an important role, they are concerned that prioritising council formation over the core economic issues risks becoming a process discussion that delays rather than advances meaningful progress."
In addition, the report stated that several top female players are becoming 'more disillusioned with the governance of tennis' after incidents at the 2026 Australian Open.
It is believed that the decision to add extra cameras in warm-up and cool-down areas has not gone down too well.
Furthermore, many players have been left 'aggrieved' by Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley's proposal to introduce best-of-five-sets matches from the quarter-final stage after the initial idea was not discussed with the players.
Tiley said: "One of the things I’ve been saying now is that I think there should be three out of five sets for women. We should look at the last few matches, the quarters and the semis and the finals, and make the women’s side three out of five.
"It’s something we should put on the agenda and start talking to the players about because there’s some matches in those last rounds which would have been fascinating had they been three out of five sets.
"Now I don’t know whether the players would want to do it or not, but it is something we need to consider on the women’s side. Certainly if we’re going to do it and we think it’s the right thing, we’ll definitely go in 2027."
Topics: Tennis, Carlos Alcaraz, US Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon
Marcus Chan