The Double Strand.
Roland Garros asked Sabalenka about her necklace. Wimbledon never asks the Royal Box about their jewels.
Angeli Gianchandani applies cultural intelligence to the question women in sport are still being asked that men never are.
The Edge | By Angeli Gianchandani · July 2, 2026 · 4 min read
The Necklace
Tennis and jewelry have coexisted for nearly fifty years. The sport has a bracelet named after it. In the 1980s, Boris Becker won Wimbledon wearing an Ebel watch. Andre Agassi played wearing one with a denim strap. Nobody questioned any of that. Then Aryna Sabalenka walked onto Roland Garros, not a red carpet, not a gala, a Grand Slam match on clay, wearing nearly $148,000 worth of garnets and diamonds from her sponsor Material Good, and someone asked whether she deserved more prize money.
The media had one question: how could she wear that and still advocate for higher prize money?
Her answer: "It's not about me. We are fighting for the lower-ranked players, players coming back after injuries, the next generation to be more comfortable coming into the top 10."
Wimbledon is next. The dress code is white. It says nothing about what you wear around your neck.
The Numbers
Sabalenka turned professional in 2015. She has spent eleven years competing on tour.
Jannik Sinner turned professional in 2018. Carlos Alcaraz turned professional in 2018. Both men have spent eight years on tour.
Career prize money: Sabalenka $49,857,610 per WTA official records. Sinner $64,837,801. Alcaraz $64,959,077 per ATP records.
Three years longer on tour. Still behind.
The pay gap in tennis did not begin with Aryna Sabalenka. Outside the Grand Slams, ATP prize pools have historically exceeded those of the WTA by tens of millions of dollars annually.
Even in weeks that are not Grand Slams, women still compete in a system that pays less.
In 2025, Sabalenka broke the WTA single-season earnings record with $15,008,519, surpassing Serena Williams, who set the previous record in 2013. Her best year. Her peak. The year she wore the necklace.
The Question Nobody Asked Novak
Novak Djokovic is a Hublot ambassador. In 2026, the company released the Big Bang Tourbillon GOAT Edition, a trilogy of watches celebrating his 101 career titles. One model for each court surface. Seventy-two of one such model in blue for hard court. Twenty-one in orange for clay. Eight in green for grass. The numbers are his career, set in titanium. Retail price: $121,000.
Novak was never asked to choose between his $121,000 watch and his advocacy for player rights. The two were never placed in opposition.
Sabalenka wears a double-strand necklace from her sponsor, Material Good. She wears this display in a system built to pay her less, and the question is whether she deserves more.
The Royal Box
At Wimbledon, the most prestigious seats in tennis belong to the Royal Box. The people who sit there wear jewelry that has never been questioned. The history of royal jewels traces through India. Through Africa. Through nations whose athletes now compete on Centre Court below.
Nobody asks where those jewels came from. Nobody connects what is on those necks to the countries on the scoreboard. The right to wear them is assumed. The origin is invisible.
Sabalenka earned hers. And she was the one asked to justify it.
The Double Standard
Wealth. Power. Style. Ambition. Skill. When a female athlete holds all of them at once, the room gets uncomfortable. When a male athlete holds all of them, the room calls it greatness.
Djokovic built a monument around his name. The watch. The titles. The players' association. Nobody asked him to choose.
Sabalenka wore a necklace in a match and was asked to justify her existence at the top of the sport she has occupied for eleven years.
The double strand was not the provocation. She was.
Not the carats. The audacity.
About the Author
Angeli Gianchandani is a global brand strategist and cultural intelligence practitioner. She is Adjunct Faculty at NYU School of Professional Studies, Visiting Lecturer at African Leadership University, and holds a master's in international relations from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. The Edge is published through Mobility Girl LLC. Visit mobilitygirl.com/theedge and connect on LinkedIn.
Sources
Sources: Aryna Sabalenka career prize money $49,857,610, WTA official records, June 22, 2026. Jannik Sinner career prize money $64,837,801 and Carlos Alcaraz career prize money $64,959,077, ATP official records, June 2026. Aryna Sabalenka 2025 WTA single season earnings record $15,008,519, surpassing Serena Williams 2013 record of $12,385,572, Tennis.com and Front Office Sports. Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon GOAT Edition, trilogy of 101 watches celebrating Djokovic career titles, retail price €115,000 approximately $121,000, Monochrome Watches and Hublot official, 2026. Sabalenka necklace value nearly $148,000, Material Good confirmed as sponsor, Tennis.com and Forbes, May 2026. Boris Becker and Andre Agassi Ebel watch sponsorship on court, 1980s-1990s, Swisswatches Magazine and The Peak Magazine. Tennis bracelet origin, Chris Evert, 1978 US Open, Tennis.com. ATP and WTA prize pool disparity outside Grand Slams, Sportico and ATP and WTA official financial disclosures.
