This year’s French Open will see a 12 per cent increase in prize money with the singles champion taking home an extra 100,000 euros.
The total of value of prize money will be 36 million euros, an increase of approximately four million from last year. The men’s and women’s champion will each take home a pay-check of 2.1 million euros each. Similar to other grand slams, special attention has been paid to the money earned by players losing in the early stages of the tournament. A 16% rise will occur for players who loose between the first round and quarter-finals.
“This edition will be exciting with an amazing start to the season, full of surprises.” Tournament director Guy Forget told reporters on Wednesday.
Forget has also addressed Maria Sharapova and the possibility of rewarding her a wild card. Unlike other tournaments, the French Open has had reservations about giving a pass to the two-time champion, who will play her first match since a doping ban later today.
A formal announcement concerning Sharapova will be made on May 16th at 18:00 CET via Facebook Live in what will be a first. A recent report suggested that the Russian will miss out on a main draw pass and instead be given a wildcard into qualifying. This report has not been confirmed by the tournament.
The French Open is making a Facebook Live spectacle out of Maria Sharapova’s wild card fate. What times we live in. https://t.co/cFnqMSkm3v
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) 26 April 2017
Few will deny that Roland Garros’ Facebook idea is a bid to generate a surge in social media support leading up to the start of the second major of the season. Despite her 15-month ban, Sharapova remains a heavyweight in women’s tennis and has attracted a world following in Stuttgart this week. Last year Forbes ranked the 30-year-old as the 88th highest paid athlete in the world.
This year’s French Open will get underway on May 22nd. Novak Djokovic and Garbine Muguruza are the defending champions.
