With the challenges brought about by the coronavirus, eventual champions of the Australia open which serves off Monday will be sure to receive less than the usual
Tennis Australia’s decision not to reduce their prize pot at the Australian Open 2021 despite Covid-19 severely hitting income streams across the sport will have been welcome news for players who have spent much of the last 12 months unable to earn.
Yet those who go deep into the men’s and women’s singles competitions this season will be relatively worse off compared to last year after organisers reshuffled the distribution of prize money to boost the earlier rounds.
This year’s Australian Open boasts an unchanged pot of £40m. The first grand slam of the season, which traditionally features the best tennis players on the planet fresh from their winter training, is usually a huge money spinner for the state of Victoria.
But with limited crowds able to attend this year, Tennis Australia (TA) has had to dig deep to match the funds paid out to players just 12 months ago. Melbourne newspaper The Age reported TA were dipping into their £46m reserves to stage the tournament, while also seeking external investment.
The most notable change from 2020 is that the two Australian Open singles champions will each earn 31 per cent less than last yeara drop of £700,000. Meanwhile, first-round losers will be paid £56,000 – up 16 per cent from 12 months ago.
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Channelling funds from the latter stages of the tournament to the early rounds is seen as a means of supporting players who have incurred greater costs in the build-up to and during the Australian Open.
Australian Open prize money 2021 compared to 2020
Winner – decrease of 31%
2020: £2.2m
2021: £1.5m
Runner-up – decrease of 23%
2020: £1.1m
2021 £847,000
Semi-final – decrease of 9%
2020: £528,102
2021: £480,000
Quarter-final – increase of 5.7%
2020: £280,800
2021: £296,000
Fourth round – increase of 12%
2020: £160,500
2021: £181,000
Third round – increase of 26%
2020: £96,300
2021: £121,000
Second round – increase of 24%
2020: £68,400
2021: £85,000
First round – increase of 16%
2020: £48,100
2021: £56,000
