By Ros Satar
- The prize purse for this year’s French Open gets another hike
- What will our Brits stand to earn over the next two weeks?
PARIS, FRANCE – The second Grand Slam of the year is about to start, with another prize money lift since last year – what does that mean for the Brits in the draw?
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British hopes this year lie with Johanna Konta [26], Kyle Edmund [31], Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans in the main draw. Katie Boulter was included in the draw despite having been ruled out of the clay court season with injury. Katie Swan and Heather Watson fell in the qualifying rounds.
How much prize money could the Brits earn at the French Open 2019
| PLACE | PRIZE MONEY € (£) |
| Winner | €2.3m (£2.03m) |
| Runner-up | €1.18k (£1.04m) |
| Semi-finalist | €590k (£520.5k) |
| Quarter-finalist | €415k (£366k) |
| Round 4 | €243k (£214.3k) |
| Round 3 | €143k (£126.1k) |
| Round 2 | €87k (£76.7k) |
| Round 1 | €46k (£40.5k) |
As we have seen throughout recent years, as the Slams roll around the different tournaments step up the bar with the others beginning to follow suit. This year Roland Garros have increased their prize purse to a little over €39m, following the Australian’s increase of 10% this year, with Wimbledon also announcing a rise again for 2018.
Total Grand Slam Prize Purses for 2019 (Current Currency Conversion)
| Australian Open (2019) | Roland Garros (2019) | Wimbledon (2019) | US Open (2018) |
| AU$62.5m
£34m |
€42.6m
£37.6m |
£38m | $53m
£41.2m |
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What does this mean for the Brits?
This year’s draw is tough for all concerned in the main draw as we break down the most optimistic path to the final for Konta, Edmund, Norrie and Evans. At the time of writing, Swan is in the final round of qualifying.
However, eyebrows were raised at the inclusion of Boulter in the draw, who ruled herself out of the entire clay court season, with concerns about even the grass court season, after suffering a hairline fracture in her back while helping guide Team GB into the Fed Cup World Group II.
Boulter travelled to Paris, to officially withdraw from Roland Garros, and under the ITF rules, she will earn 50% of the first-round prize money, with the other 50% being awarded to the Lucky Loser (a qualifier who failed to win the final round but remained onsite to sign in for a place in the main draw).
Had she taken to the court, and then retired or was deemed to have performed ‘below professional standards’ she may have been subject to a fine, which could even amount to the whole of first-round prize money if it is believed she took to the court with a pre-existing injury (hard to dispute in this case).
The aim of the rule to prevent players in those circumstances showing up for the first round, playing a few games and then retiring to get the first-round paycheque, with the Slams having been hit with a rash of first round retirements, most notably seven retirements in the first round of Wimbledon 2017.
Opponents for the rest of the Brits are assumed via their ranking/seeding
Johanna Konta’s Path to the Final
- R1: Antonia Lottner [Q] | First meeting
- R2: Kristyna Pliskova | Kr. Pliskova leads H2H 2-1
- R3: Kiki Bertens [4] | Konta leads H2H 3-2
- R4: Belinda Bencic [15] | H2H Tied at 2-2
- QF: Sloane Stephens [7] | Konta leads H2H 2-1
- SF: Karolina Pliskova [2] | Ka. Pliskova leads H2H 6-1
- F: Naomi Osaka [1] | Konta leads H2H: 3-0 (Not including lower tier Fed Cup)
Kyle Edmund’s Path to Final
- R1: Jeremy Chardy | H2H Tied at 1-1
- R2: Pablo Cuevas | First meeting
- R3: Dominic Thiem [4] | Thiem leads H2H 1-0
- R4: Gael Monfils [14] | H2H Tied at 1-1
- QF: Juan Martin Del Potro [8] | Del Potro leads H2H by 1-0
- SF: Novak Djokovic [1] | Djokovic leads H2H 4-1
- F: Rafael Nadal [2] | Nadal leads H2H 1-0
Cameron Norrie’s Path to Final
- R1: Elliot Benchetrit [Q] | Norrie leads H2H 1-0
- R2: Dusan Lajovic | H2H Tied at 1-1
- R3: Alexander Zverev [5] | Zverev leads H2H 1-0
- R4: Fabio Fognini [9] | Fognini leads H2H 1-0
- QF: Novak Djokovic [1] | First meeting
- SF: Dominic Thiem [4] | Thiem leads H2H 1-0
- F: Rafael Nadal [2] | First meeting
Dan Evans’ Path to Final
- R1: Fernando Verdasco | First meeting
- R2: Damir Dzumhur | First meeting
- R3: Gael Monfils [14] | Monfils leads H2H 1-0
- R4: Dominic Thiem [4] | H2H Tied at 1-1
- QF: Juan Martin Del Potro [8] | Del Potro leads H2H 1-0
- SF: Novak Djokovic [1] | First meeting
- F: Rafael Nadal [2] | First meeting
Roland Garros takes place between 26 May and 9 June.
How to Watch/Follow Roland Garros
| TV | ITV4 (from May 26)
Eurosport (Subscription Required) |
| Live Stream | Eurosport (Free trial with Amazon Prime) |
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