The French Open is to serve up the largest prize money pot in Grand Slam tennis so far this year, taking advantage of Brexit’s hit on Wimbledon’s purse as it shakes off its old reputation as the poorer cousin of the big four tournaments.
This year’s clay-court slam is to award prize money totaling 39.2 million euros (US$45.69 million). That trumps the Australian Open and Wimbledon, although it will almost certainly be knocked off the top spot by the US Open.
In a year in which Swiss great Roger Federer said he was “bored” with having to push the Grand Slams to increase the levels of prize money, the French Tennis Federation (FFT) is increasing its overall pot by 8 percent from last year.
Photo: AFP
First-round losers are to see the biggest rise of 14.3 percent and take home 40,000 euros. Winners of the men’s and women’s singles tournaments are to each receive a check for 2.2 million euros — just shy of a 5 percent increase.
Nonetheless, the FFT said it would be difficult in what is a grueling wage battle to maintain the near double-digit increases in the coming years.
The modernization of Roland Garros, including a new center court with a retractable roof, is to cost up to 400 million euros, said Le Monde, financed by the federation itself.
“We have the burden of debt, so we will not be able to continue increasing prize money at the rhythm of previous years,” FFT chief Bernard Giudicelli said.
The French Open was leading the way in narrowing the gap between how much the champions and early losers take home, he added.
“We’re happy to see other Grand Slams follow our example in reducing the winnings ratio between champion and first-round losers,” Giudicelli said.
Competition among the Grand Slams is fierce — from crowd numbers to rooftop technology to television ratings — but it is on prize money where rivalries are perhaps the hardest fought.
As the smallest of the four Grand Slam venues, Roland Garros has the lowest attendance and generates the least revenue. A decade-long stalemate over expansion plans have left it trailing its peers.
In 2015, the US Open at Flushing Meadows pipped Wimbledon as the most lucrative Grand Slam event, with the French Open trailing a distant fourth.
However, Britain’s vote in 2016 to exit the EU battered the pound and wiped about 12 percent off the grass-court tournament’s prize money in US dollar terms.
Two years on, the pound remains under pressure and it is Wimbledon that now trails the French Open, and almost certainly the US Open, in the wage race.
Australian Open prize money rose by 10 percent this year to A$55 million (US$41.55 million), while Wimbledon has a prize fund of ￡34 million (US$45.25 million), up 7.6 percent from last year.
The US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year starting in August, has yet to announce its prize money. Last year, it became the first tennis tournament to top US$50 million following a 9 percent rise.
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