Sabalenka cuts news conference short as top French Open players protest prize money

World number one Aryna Sabalenka cut short her French Open news conference as part of a 15-minute limit on media duties in protest at the prize money on offer.

Players believe a greater share of the revenue generated by the Grand Slam tournaments should be allocated in prize money.

The 15-minute limit is meant to symbolise the 15% of revenue the French Open currently offers.

Several other leading players - including men's world number one Jannik Sinner and four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek - also followed the 'work-to-rule' directive in Friday's pre-tournament media day.

Novak Djokovic, who has regularly spoken out on behalf of players' rights, did not take part in the action but supported the principle behind it.

Belarus' Sabalenka has been a leading voice in the discussions and recently said players will boycott a Grand Slam "at some point" over the dispute.

The 28-year-old spent five minutes with the host broadcaster for an on-camera interview before a 10-minute news conference with written reporters.

She ended the English-speaking portion of her news conference to allow time for questions from her nation's reporters.

"I'm here to talk to you because I have respect for you guys," Sabalenka said.

"We just wanted to make our point and we are united - 15 minutes is better than zero.

"As I said a thousand times today, I have huge respect, but we know what's happening here, so thank you so much."

Former world number one Djokovic did not participate because he was not part of the action or the discussions leading to it.

"I haven't been part of the process, the conversation, the planning or decision-making so I can't comment on that," the 24-time major champion said.

"But what I can do is reiterate my own position that I have always been on the players' side and tried to advocate for players' rights and better future for players.

"We tend to forget how little the number of people that live from this sport is. I will never stop mentioning or talking about that."

What are the players demanding?

The group of top-20 players collectively deciding to limit their media commitments is the latest step in a long-running dispute.

The players held an initial meeting with the Grand Slams last year and further talks have taken place since,but there has not been as much progress as the players would have liked.

The key issues the players want to change are:

• Prize money - a higher ratio of prize money-to-revenue in acknowledgement of what players contribute to the financial success of the tournaments, with more money trickling down to lower-ranked players