djokovic

PARIS – Total French Open prize money will be about 7 per cent higher this year than it was for the last pre-pandemic edition in 2019 — with an increase of 35 per cent for players who lose in the first round of singles — but the singles champions will each receive slightly less than they did three years ago.

The French Tennis Federation announced Wednesday that it will hand out a total of 43.6 million euros (about $46 million in U.S. funds) in 2022.

The clay-court Grand Slam tournament begins on May 22, with Novak Djokovic and Barbora Krejcikova as the reigning champions.

The winners of the two singles trophies this year will each earn 2.2 million euros (about $2.3 million), down from 2.3 million euros (about $2.4 million) apiece in 2019.

Compared to last year, when the coronavirus pandemic led to limits on attendance at Roland Garros, there is an increase from the 34.4 million euros (about $36.5 million) in total prizes and 1.4 million euros (just under $1.5 million) for the singles champions.

First-round losers in singles will receive 62,000 euros this time (about $65,750), a jump from 46,000 (about $48,750) in 2019.

In all, when compared to 2019, the singles purse goes up nearly 1.5 per cent and the doubles prizes rise by about 6 per cent.

Players in qualifying rounds will see an increase of about 65 per cent in available money over 2019, and 30 per cent over last year.

The federation said the increases for first-round singles matches and qualifying “is designed to help the players who have suffered the most” financially because of the pandemic.