Australian Open 2011 to offer record prize pool
The 2011 Australian Open men’s and women’s singles champions will be awarded 2.2million Australian dollars, an increase of A$100,000 from this year’s prize money.
The winners’ cheques will be drawn from a total prize pool of A$25million, which based on the current exchange rate, will make next year’s the largest prize pool offered so far in the tournament’s 105-year history.
The runners-up in both the men’s and women’s singles will each receive a cut of A$1.1million from the total prize pool.
All eyes will be on whether Rafael Nadal can claim the winner’s prize at the Australian Open for the second time in his career – a feat that would see the world No. 1 join an elite club of players who have won all four major titles in a 12-month period following his victories at the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open this year.
“It is a mouth-watering proposition, and he certainly will be one of the favourites,” Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley said at the launch of the Australian Open 2011.
“But I think Rafa himself would be the first to point out that at the moment it is all just speculation and there are a lot of tough opponents, including the reigning champion Roger Federer, standing between him and that place in history,” Tiley said.
But while the world at large fixes its collective gaze on the Spaniard, local fans will be hoping that a rather large slice of the prize pool in the women’s singles heads to Sam Stosur, who should provide the best chance of Australian success at Melbourne Park in 2010.
Stosur began 2010 seeking to crack the top-10 for the first time in her career, but is set to return to her home Grand Slam as an established top-10 player, and with the experience of playing in the French Open final (where she lost to Francesca Schiavone) under her belt.
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