A considerable portion of the prize fund at the French Open has once again been dedicated to assisting players that have struggled financially in the last 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall winnings at Roland Garros for 2021 is €34,367,215, an approximate decrease worth 10.53 % compared to the tournament in 2020.
Despite the fact that the overall prize money has shrunk, a singles player that loses in any round of qualifying or even the first two rounds of the main event will get the same amount of money as the previous year. Players that fail to go past the first round of the main draw will get a paycheck of €60,000. Meanwhile, players featuring in the first round of qualifiers will receive €10,000 each.
Guy Forget, Tournament Director of Roland Garros said, “In light of the current situation, we are proud to have once again opted for a philanthropic prize fund, which allows us to support the players who have been severely affected by the health crisis, financially-speaking.”
Subsequently, players that are eliminated from the second, third and fourth round will pocket prize money worth €84,000, €113,000, €170,000, respectively. There are minor cuts once the tournament enters the last 32 stages, with players in rounds three, four, and the quarter-final earning 10.05 % less than the previous year.
The French Open Champion in Paris will earn €1,400,000. Even though the prize money is significant, it is slightly lesser than the prize money in Roland Garros 2020. Precisely, there has been a significant decrease of 12.5 percent in the prize money that was won by previous champions- Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek. With €750,000 on the line, the runner-ups will experience a slight 6.25 % decrease in prize money in comparison to French Open 2020. It remains to be seen whether other Grand Slams will also follow Roland Garros in introducing Philanthropic Prize Fund to help struggling Tennis players.