Make no mistake about, says Wawrinka, the Slams are an important occasions within the sport. However they should take a extra holistic view of the panorama and cease being so egocentric, he says.

Wawrinka acknowledges that the Slams have elevated pay to qualifiers and early-round losers considerably through the years, however nonetheless asserts that the 4 majors don’t permit gamers income sharing and subsequently pay allotted to gamers has not elevated as a lot because the earnings that the majors earn on an annual foundation.

“[The Slams are] the place the historical past of tennis is written,” Wawrinka mentioned. “These are the richest Federations which don’t redistribute a lot. Even between them, there isn’t a communication… The earnings from Grand Slams in the present day is essential and the proportion returned to gamers is ridiculous. It has hardly elevated in any respect.”

When requested if a union, corresponding to Novak Djokovic’s PTPA, might make a distinction he mentioned:

“What did they do?” he mentioned of the PTPA. “Not a lot in the mean time. I am asking you, I do not know. For the second they haven’t launched something concrete. So it is not a topic. We do not want a gamers’ union, we want gamers on the decision-making tables.”

Wawrinka additionally cited the Australian Open’s unilateral resolution to change from a 14-day to 15-day foremost draw with out participant consent, in addition to the adjustments made to Davis Cup.

He additionally mentioned that in terms of participant issues of safety and the frustration expressed by many gamers, concerning the uniformity of balls utilized by the ATP Tour, he mentioned the shortage of communication and greed are at play.

“The issue with tennis is that there are too many governances, too many alternative entities (ITF, Grand Slam tournaments, ATP, WTA) which solely look out for their very own pursuits,” he mentioned. “Right this moment, the true downside in tennis is the Grand Slams.”