Ashraf Ali Siddiqui describes a lucrative sport
It is interesting to observe that though tennis is a global game yet only two countries in Europe, one in the Americas and one in Australasia are given the privilege to host mega-tournaments dubbed as Grand Slams. The four tournaments are played with suitable difference between the dates they are held. Although many tournaments played under the aegis of Association of Tennis Players (ATP) are rated more lucrative but these slams have a unique prestige attached to them. The Prize Money In Tennis given out in these tournaments is also quite high and every player having played in it is monetarily rewarded.
Recently the second Grand Slam of the year, French Open 2022, has ended in which the La Coupe des Mousquetaires (men’s singles champions) or La Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen (women’s singles champion), were picked up by Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek. Manufactured by Mellerio dits Meller, a famous Parisian jewelry house, the original trophies are made of pure silver with finely etched decorations on the side. Each new singles winner not only gets his or her name written on the base of the real trophy but also receives custom-made pure silver replicas.
French Open is the world’s leading clay court championship and is considered to be very physically demanding. This year the competitors shared an increased prize money pool after COVID-19 saw the total purse decline in 2020 and 2021. After two COVID-19 affected years the total prize money dropped to $43 million in 2021. With a total prize pool of $46 million — a 27% increase compared to 2021 — each of the men’s and women’s champions stand to secure the bag. $2.4 million will go to each winner and $1.2 million to each runner-up. Even players who make an early exit will see a nice chunk of change — roughly $66,000 for those losing in the first round. And not to forget doubles —the winning pair walks away with roughly $620,000, while the runner-up duo earns around $310,000.
The prize money for the Wimbledon last year was $48.2 million with winners taking up $2,399,520 and runner-up getting $1,270,334 along with semifinalist earning $656,339 and quarterfinalist ending up with $423,445. The US Open 2021 prize money was $53.4 million with winners making $3 million, runner-up $1.5 million, semifinalist $800,000 and quarterfinalist $425,000. Australian Open is more lucrative where the 2022 prize money was $75 million, with winners taking $2,071,064, runner-up $1,134,583, semifinalist $644,731 and quarterfinalist $387,919. TW
