By News18,Rudransh Khurana

Copyright news18

Coco Gauff has pledged to leave Tennis ‘better than I found it’ amid her fight against the four Grand Slam heads demanding more prize money, a greater share of revenue contributions towards player welfare, more benefits, and a bigger say in how the biggest tournaments are run, especially in decisions impacting atheletes.
Twenty top players, reportedly excluding Novak Djokovic, signed a letter sent to the four Grand Slam heads in March with the demands. The group signed a second letter during the summer, underlining their demand that Slams pay into a fund to improve retirement and maternity benefits.
The group has said revenue share from the Grand Slams is less than that at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tours, despite bringing in more money.
“For the long run of our sport and kind of the whole ecosystem, I think that it’s really important,” Gauff said in Beijing after advancing to the China Open semi-finals. “They have been working with us behind the scenes on finding a solution, but I don’t know when it’s gonna happen,” she added.
The players argue the tours contribute tens of millions of dollars to annual player welfare benefits while Slams commit nothing.
“We’re not talking about just raising the prize money for the champion, but also trickling all the way down,” Gauff said. “We kind of want them to invest more in the Tour as a whole, not only when it comes to prize money, but the well-being of players. Our 200th-best player, our 300th-best player, is struggling to make ends meet. I don’t know if it will happen in my career lifetime where it reaches that, but I want to leave this sport better than I found it.”
World number 300 Yuriko Miyazaki has earned less than $100,000 this year. A significant sum in other contexts, it’s not said to be enough for an expensive sport like tennis, with high costs involved with travel and paying the coaching staffs.
“Obviously, all the top-ten players agree. I think this is the first time on the tour we’ve gotten both the top ten of both men and women to sign something and agree to something. I think it’s a big step. I know they’re having conversations. Hopefully, we can reach a solution in the near future.”