Tennis Reporter Ripped For 'Hypocritical' Question For Aryna Sabalenka At Roland Garros

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faced more heat in the media room than she has on the court so far at Roland Garros this year.

Prior to the start of the 2026 French Open, Sabalenka said the top players in the world may start boycotting Grand Slam tournaments if they don't receive a large share of the revenue. For reference, the players are receiving 14.9% of this year's revenue from Roland Garros.

"Without us there wouldn't be a tournament and there wouldn't be that entertainment. I feel like definitely we deserve to be paid more percentage," Sabalenka said. "I think at some point we will boycott it. I feel like that's going to be the only way to fight for our rights."

Following her first-round victory over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Tuesday afternoon, Sabalenka was asked if she might be viewed as hypocrite considering she's asking for more money while sporting expensive diamonds on the court.

"I've seen a few people making a comparison between you calling for extra prize money and then wearing the very expensive diamonds," the reporter asked Sabalenka. "Do you see in any way how that could be seen as possibly hypocritical?"

Sabalenka made it clear to the reporter and everyone else that she's fighting for lower-ranked players on the ATP and WTA Tour who don't make nearly as much money as she does.

"I don't really see how it can be possible to like cross these two completely different words," Sabalenka said. "As I said before, prize money is not about me at all. It's just fighting for lower ranked players who are really struggling to survive in this tennis world. It has nothing to do with me, that I'm fighting for the prize money. Everyone knows that I'm okay. We are fighting for a fair percentage of the revenue and also for the lower ranked players, players coming back after injuries, next generation to be more comfortable coming into the top 10. So it's not about me."

Fans take a side in this debate.

Even though Sabalenka has received her fair share of criticism over the years, tennis fans are on her side when it comes to this particular situation.

"This is a crazy question because the men also walk on court and wear watches/ jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars," one fan commented.

"Cooked whoever asked that dumbass question and you love to see it," a second fan said.

"Aryna herself is NOT asking for extra prize money, neither is Novak [Djokovic] or Jannik [Sinner]," a third fan replied. "They are fighting for the players ranked outside the worlds top 100 many of whom barely ake enough money to live on."

"The 'journalist' tried to put Aryna in a tight spot and got totally flipped on it," another said.

Sabalenka will return to the court later this week to face Elsa Jacquemot, who'll receive plenty of love from the crowd in Paris.

It wouldn't shock us is Sabalenka faces a few more controversial questions between now and the end of the French Open.

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This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 10:23 PM.