There will be a record $71 million paid out in prize money at next month’s Australian Open as tennis’s biggest starts vie for a near-$98 million summer purse.
Ashleigh Barty and the rest of the world’s premier tennis players will compete for a near-$100 million pot of gold over the Australian summer.
A record $71 million Australian Open purse and the introduction of the new $22 million ATP Cup teams’ event to kick off the new year has sent the total summer prize money rocketing to $97.94 million.
The men’s and women’s singles champions at Melbourne Park will pocket $4.1 million each after officials on Tuesday announced an increase of 13.6 per cent on last year’s record riches.
There will be double-digit percentage increases across qualifying and every round of the main draw except the singles finals.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said the pay rises were another important step in continuing to invest in the playing group.
“We have long been committed to improving the pay and conditions for a deeper pool of international tennis players,” Tiley said.
“In fact, since AO 2007, prize money has more than tripled from $20 million to the $71 million for 2020 we are announcing today.
“This year, as we do every year, we worked with the tours to establish the weighting for prize money increases round-by-round, and we pushed to reward players competing early in the tournament in both singles and doubles.
“We strongly believe in growing prize money at all levels of the game and we will continue to work with the playing group to create viable career paths in the sport and enable more players to make more money.”
Those who lose in the first round of qualifying will take home $20,000, up 33 per cent, while players losing in the first round of the main draw will earn $90,000 in prize money in 2020.
Barty, Australia’s first women’s top seed at the Open since Dianne Fromholtz in 1977, will launch her summer at the Brisbane International from January 6-12.
The world No.1 will round out her Open preparations the following week in Adelaide.
Men’s world No.1 Rafael Nadal will be the star attraction for the Perth phase of the inaugural ATP Cup starting on January 3.
Defending Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, along with Australian aces Alex de Minaur and Nick Kyrgios, are among the star-studded field featuring in the group stages of the ATP Cup in Brisbane.
© AAP
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