The custom is to see the great tennis stars traveling the world, from tournament to tournament, with their families and their extensive entourage. When the cameras focus on the box of Nadal, Djokovic, Federer or Serena Williams, there are always faces that are familiar, from so many years we have seen them. But this is not the norm for most men and women who have chosen tennis as a career. If we go down a ladder, the number of companions of those classified between the top 10 and 20 of the ranking is generally reduced by half. And in tennis players below the top 50 many times the number is zero.
As in all professional sports, tennis requires a great sacrifice not only personal, but also financial, and not everyone can afford to pay a coach to travel with them around the circuit as they struggle to climb the ranks. For many of these less fortunate, simply entering the big picture at a Grand Slam can mean a few more months of coaching or travel to a few more championships.
The prizes for the lowest rounds and the preliminary phase, which distributed more than five million, increase
This year the American tennis federation has decided to take action to help alleviate this problem, redistributing the record for the economic amount of the Open (48 and a half million euros in total) in a more equitable way. In this edition, the champions will not win 2.53 million euros but solo 2.11. However, the prizes for the lower rounds and the qualifying round have increased, which this year distributed more than five million among the 128 participants. In 2021, losing in the first round at Flushing Meadows meant going home with 63,000 euros, going to second had a reward of 97,000 and reaching the third, 152,000 (before taxes).
By way of comparison, Carlos Alcaraz, who plays his third round match against Stéfano Tsitsipás today, has already secured 152,000. The young champion of Umag, an ATP 250 tournament, took the title in Croatia for 41,000 euros and would have had to be crowned in two more similar championships to only match what he has achieved in New York so far.
The same happens on the female circuit. Paula Badosa, champion in Belgrade, and Sara Sorribes, with title in Guadalajara, took with their trophies checks of 23,000 and 24,000 euros respectively. And for now in New York they carry as much as if they had won a couple of WTA 500 titles each.
Stacey Allaster, the director of the Open, explained that redistributing the awards was not a unilateral decision. “We had an open dialogue with the players and with the managers of both circuits. We applaud his leadership in guiding us to a prize distribution that will benefit the maximum number of players. ”
