Rising American star Fiona Crawley loses $81,000 after being forced to give up her US Open prize money

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Fiona Crawley 6-2, 6-4 in straight sets in the first round of US Open.

Rising American star Fiona Crawley loses $81,000 after being forced to give up her US Open prize money

Fiona Crawley (Source: The News and Observer)

Fiona Crawley is a 21-year-old college athlete who etched her name in the history books recently by becoming the first-ever player to win at the national championships for North Carolina alongside her doubles partner Carson Tanguilig. She also became one of the youngest female players to debut in the US Open, both in the singles and the doubles events.

Despite giving a phenomenal performance in her first-round match of the US Open, she lost after an intense battle. However, she could take home the $81,000 first-round prize money due to a mere technical fault in the system. 

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As Fiona Crawley plays college tennis for the North Carolina Tar Heels and it currently the top-ranked player in the NCAA Division 1 women’s singles, she would get automatically ineligible to take part in college tennis if she accepted the money that she deserved for playing in the first round of US Open 2023. 

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Thus, she denied the money without any hesitation. However, she was understandably upset on this unjust rule and went on to point out its hypocrisy upon being asked about her thoughts. Tennis fans across the fans loved her for the transparency and honesty. 

“I would never take the money and never risk my eligibility, but I worked my b*tt off this week, and it seems unreal that there are football and basketball players making millions in NIL deals, and I can’t take the money that I worked so hard for,” said the 21-year old in a post-match interview. 

Read More: WATCH: Matteo Berrettini screams in pain after twisting his ankle in a horrible fall, forced to forfeit from the US Open

Fiona Crawley lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Round 1 of US Open 

Fiona Crawley
Fiona Crawley (Source: San Antonio Express-News)

Fiona Crawley entered the US Open as a wildcard after winning the national championships for North Carolina with her doubles partner Carson Tanguilig. She won three tough matches in the Qualifiers to make it into the main draw. There, she played valiantly against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, but lost. 

Despite her loss, she was deserving of the prize money that is given just to play the first round and she could not take home even that. Crawley and her teammate Tanguilig also lost their first-round mixed doubles match. Thus, Fiona Crawley’s hopes in the US Open are now over. 

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