Carlos Alcaraz 'splits from group' led by Sabalenka and Sinner in major twist

Carlos Alcaraz is reportedly no longer part of a group of players which has been calling for an increased prize pot for Grand Slams. Alcaraz has spent a large amount of the year on the sidelines recovering from a wrist injury, but has made his return to feature at the US Open.

Some of the top male and female tennis players in the world have called for an increase in the revenue share that is available for prize money in grand slams to 22 percent, rather than the current 15, which is the average. Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner and four-time grand slam winner Aryna Sabalenka have been part of the group of players calling for the revenue share for grand slam prize money to be increased, as well as an improvement in player welfare. Coco Gauff, along with Sinner, Sabalenka and Alcaraz, was also part of the group of players who signed a letter calling for change.

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The Times have reported, though, that Alcaraz is no longer part of the group of players that will continue the campaign going forward. Protests over improved player welfare and an increase in the prize fund for grand slams took centre stage at the French Open, when many players cut short their media responsibilities.

Sabalenka and Sinner were part of the group of players who ended their media duties after 15 minutes, which was in reference to the current average percentage that players receive from revenues taken from grand slams. Alcaraz did not take part in the protests at Roland Garros earlier this year due to being unavailable to feature in the tournament with a wrist injury, which also forced him to miss Wimbledon. The seven-time Grand Slam champion made his return at Flushing Meadows for the US Open and was critical of the current schedule for professional tennis players.

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"I took more (time off) than I wanted, to be honest, but you know, seeing how tight the calendar is, obviously I don't want to have this break because (of) an injury," Alcaraz told reporters earlier this month.

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"But in the future, I'm going to take some breaks, some long breaks. Maybe not four months, but one month, two months, missing some tournaments, because it's impossible to play them all.

"I think they (are) adding more important tournaments. You know, in a way they (are) making us play. You can say 'no'. You can keep one or two.

"You can decide your calendar, but there are some Masters 1000s, some grand slams, and we've been out playing 40 weeks if we got to play every mandatory tournament that the ATP, you know, required us to play.

"So it's impossible, and we are seeing a lot of players getting injured, a lot of players getting tired. If they don't do anything about it, we are going to see even more in the future. But for me, taking this break because (of) an injury, it wasn't that good, but you know, what I'm going to say is I'm going to take some breaks and miss some tournaments in the future, for sure."

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