French Open prize fund raised to 43.6 million euros, almost 7% from 2019

The total prize money for the French Open will be around 7% greater this year than it was for the previous pre-pandemic tournament in 2019 – with a 35% boost for players who lose in the first round of singles – but the singles champions will each receive somewhat less than they did three years ago.

The French Tennis Federation announced on Wednesday that it will award 43.6 million euros (about $46 million) in prize money in 2022.

The clay-court Grand Slam tournament will begin on May 22, and the reigning champions are Novak Djokovic and Barbora Krejcikova.

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This year’s winners of the two singles trophies will each receive 2.2 million euros, a decrease from 2.3 million euros in 2019.

In comparison to the previous year, when the coronavirus pandemic limited participation at Roland Garros, overall awards have increased from 34.4 million euros to 1.4 million euros for singles victors.

Singles first-round losers will receive 62,000 euros this season, up from 46,000 in 2019.

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Overall, the singles purse is approximately 1.5 percent higher than in 2019 and the doubles awards are nearly 6 percent higher.

Players in the qualifying rounds will see a 65 percent rise in available money over 2019, and a 30 percent increase over last year.

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The raises for first-round singles matches and qualifying, according to the organisation, are “designed to help the players who have suffered the most.”

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According to the French daily RMC Sport, the French Open organisers have decided not to follow Wimbledon’s lead and have barred Russian and Belarussian participants from competing in the Grand Slam competition.

The French Tennis Federation, on the other hand, has yet to issue a formal comment on its stance.