‘The finalists still lose’ Check out the massive change in prize money for the French Open 2022
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Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
The French Open is one of the most prestigious tournaments in tennis and is the only grand slam played on clay. Rafael Nadal has won this title a record 13 times. Novak Djokovic, the defending champion at Roland-Garros, will be looking to hold onto his crown this year around too. Along with the prestige of winning such an important event, there is also hefty prize money for the winner.
All the players compete for the big bucks, and this year, the prize pool has been increased by 6.8% from 2019, the last time the tournament was played with ‘normal’ pre-pandemic capacity. After the pandemic, things have started becoming a bit better, but this is not the case with the finalists of the French Open 2022. They will be the ones who will suffer the most if we consider the new prize fund.
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Breakdown of the change in prize money at the French Open 2022
With the announcement of the increase in prize funds, some major surprises await both the players and the fans. Three years ago, when Nadal beat Dominic Thiem to win his then-12th French Open title, he took home €2.3 million, whereas this year’s winner will earn €2.2 million. The winner’s cheque is still €700,000 higher than the previous year when Djokovic took home the decreased champion’s prize money because of the Covid-19.
| Round | Singles |
| Winners | €2.2m |
| Runners-up | €1.1m |
| Semi-finalists | €600,000 |
| Quarter-finalists | €380,000 |
| Fourth round | €220,000 |
| Third round | €125,800 |
| Second round | €86,000 |
| First round | €62,000 |
| Qualifying R3 | €31,000 |
| Qualifying R2 | €20,000 |
| Qualifying R1 | €14,000 |
But, with the newly expanded prize money, only the winner and runner-up will be worse off than in 2019, as Dominic Thiem received €1.18 million in 2019, while this year’s finalist will receive €1.1 million. The semi-finalists, Djokovic and Roger Federer got €590,000 in 2019, but that reward has been increased to €600,000 this year.
The entire prize money pot in qualifying is up 66 percent from last year, with €14,000, €20,000, and €31,000 given out across the three rounds, compared to €7,000, €12,250, and €24,000 in the pre-pandemic French Open.
There is some speculation that this anomaly might result in some players like Rafa or Djokovic dropping out. But, given Rafa already has one more grand slam than Djokovic, it is unlikely that Djokovic will take a chance to give Rafa one more slam lead.
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Prateek Sinha
(365 Articles Published)