The main draw of the opening grand slam of 2012 got underway in Melbourne on Monday amid further rumblings of discontent amongst Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) members. Indeed, Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky told Reuters that a proposal to boycott the tournament had been strongly endorsed at a players’ meeting on Saturday.

“Some of the players were suggesting we're not going to play here,” said the world No.65. “There were enough (votes not to play) but it was just not right because we're here and the Australian Open would have no chance to change anything.” Players have long complained over the structure of prize money, saying the sums put in place for the four grand slams did not equate to the revenue they generate while the distribution is too heavily weighted to those players who regularly advance to the latter stages.

“More than 80% of the top players are on the same page as the rest of the players, saying that grand slams are not paying enough and that some mandatory events are not having proper prize money distribution,” Stakhovsky added. Meanwhile, former world No.3 Nikolay Davydenko hinted that players might strike at Indian Wells in California, a mandatory ATP tournament that will take place in March. “The ATP should try to do something between now and Indian Wells,” the Russian said.

Davydenko added that ATP Council vice-president Rafael Nadal and world No.1 Novak Djokovic were behind the call for change, but also questioned president Roger Federer's commitment to the cause. The Swiss world No. 3 rejected the criticism on Monday, adding: "I just have a different way of going at it. I'm not discussing it with you guys in the press room. (Strike) is such a dangerous word to use. That's why I always say, 'let's try to avoid it as much as we can'."