“I still think that there’s room to grow" - Keys, Tiafoe and Fritz share their opinions on continuous prize money issue in tennis

Madison Keys, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz were all vocal about prize money in the sport as the debate between the players and the top organisations continue.

The duo both featured at the Charlotte International, an exhibition event featuring some fellow USA tennis talents. Keys played in front of a boisterous crowd against seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams. After a competitive first set, the reigning Australian Open champion ran away with the set to confirm a comfortable victory.

In the other matchup, Tiafoe and Fritz were locked in a close tussle. After Fritz clinched the first set, Tiafoe found a way to level with his fellow countryman to set up a final set tiebreaker. Tiafoe managed to come out on top 10-8 to seal a hard-fought victory over the world number six and former US Open finalist.

There has been an ongoing riff about prize money in the sport, with the players increasingly demanding fairer prize pots on offer throughout tennis. They want players who are struggling to make it to have more financial leeway with the sport being notoriously damaging on a money point of view to many rising players.

“I’ll speak more on the WTA side. Venus, you’ve obviously been a huge reason as to why we have equal prize money, and that was a huge step forward in the business of women’s tennis, but more so in women’s sports. So I think in that respect, we are still making strides," Keys stated to reporters while at the exhibition.

“I still think that there’s room to grow, but I would love to see tennis be able to support more people. I know that obviously the top earners are currently taking the majority of the prize money, and it’s a very expensive sport. It’s very difficult to get into it, to sustain it, to support it. So I think, in my opinion, the future of tennis, it would be amazing if we could kind of grow the sport so that it was a liveable wage for more people than a sport.”

“No, I mean, I definitely agree with Maddie, I think. So over time, we’re continuing to get closer and closer, where it’s, you know, more people can see that’s a profession and, you know, you don’t have to be one of the top top best players in the world to make a real nice living. And I mean, it’s getting there, I mean, it’ll probably be better after we’re done and retired."

Despite this, he was happy in the direction that the sport is heading. “Where it’s going, I think the game’s getting a lot more exposure. You know, you see more and more people, non-tennis fans want to come and watch the game. But I think, overall, prize money is going higher. I like where the game’s going.”

Fritz followed up with his opinion on the situation. “I think things are going well. You see how it increases every year in prize money and growth, so I think there’s that, but I also think there’s a lot of room for further improvement," Fritz acknowledged. "I think there’s ways we could do things better to just make this overall package that we have better, easier to follow for fans, which would, I think, help grow. I say, I’d say overall, I think, you know, tennis is in a good spot, and the sport is growing.”

The only player yet to answer is Williams, who dodged the question as she cited the time away from the court, drawing laughter from the reporters.