The conversations surrounding Coco Gauff in Rome have not centred solely on tennis.
Yes, there is the clay season, the pressure of defending major ranking points and the looming challenge of Roland Garros. But increasingly, the broader discussion around the WTA and ATP locker rooms keeps circling back to one issue: money, and how much of it actually reaches the players.
Gauff is no longer speaking about it cautiously.
The American openly backed the possibility of collective action from players if negotiations surrounding Grand Slam prize money continue to stall, suggesting that meaningful change in tennis may ultimately require more than public complaints.
“Massive progress usually takes something like that”
Speaking in Rome, Gauff acknowledged she understood why talk of stronger measures—including a boycott—has started surfacing among players.
“Honestly, I kind of agree with that idea,” she said.
Rather than framing the issue around the biggest stars, Gauff repeatedly pointed toward lower-ranked players, many of whom still struggle financially despite competing regularly at tour level.
“It’s about the future of the sport and also the current players, especially those ranked 50 to 200 who are often living paycheck to paycheck.”
The world No. 3 also pointed toward examples from other sports, particularly leagues with stronger collective structures.
“When you look at other sports and what players have managed to improve over time, it usually comes through organised action.”
She stopped short of calling for an immediate boycott, but the tone was notably firmer than in previous years.
Tennis still lacks a united player structure
One of the recurring frustrations among players is the fragmented nature of tennis itself.
Unlike team sports, there is no fully unified union structure with broad negotiating power across tours and tournaments. Gauff suggested that remains a major obstacle if players want lasting change.
“So either there needs to be stronger organisation among players, or there has to be some kind of collective response.”
Importantly, she stressed that no individual player could realistically take such a stand alone.
“If something serious ever happened, it would only work if players moved together.”
That sense of shared positioning, particularly among leading names, is one of the few developments she sees as encouraging.
According to Gauff, players at the top of the sport are now far more aligned on financial concerns than they once were, even if discussions remain ongoing behind the scenes.
Back to business in Rome
Away from the politics, Gauff enters Rome in a delicate sporting position.
Her Madrid campaign was disrupted by illness, though she admitted the recovery came quickly after leaving Spain. She described the episode as “a weird 48 to 72 hours,” but insisted she now feels physically normal again.
The clay swing remains particularly important for her ranking situation.
After falling earlier than expected in Madrid, she arrives in Rome defending another deep WTA 1000 run before attempting to defend her Roland Garros title later this month.
Grass remains the problem
Interestingly, Gauff also reflected on the challenge of building momentum across surfaces, singling out grass as the most difficult part of the calendar.
“I don’t think anyone really builds rhythm on grass,” she admitted.
The compressed nature of that swing leaves little room for adjustment, especially with Wimbledon beginning almost immediately after the lead-up events conclude.
Clay, by contrast, allows players to settle.
“If you’re playing well on clay, usually that feeling carries through the whole stretch.”
That currently matters for Gauff more than ever.
Because while the conversations around tennis politics continue to grow louder, her own season still hinges heavily on what happens over the next few weeks in Rome and Paris.