French Open prize money rises about 10% to $72.1 million overall

France’s Roland Garros boosts French Open prize money, pairs it with on-court tech and privacy

The French Open’s total prize money has risen by about 10% to 61.7 million euros ($72.1 million), tournament officials said Thursday, ahead of the start of play at Roland Garros in western Paris. Officials said the overall increase is 5.3 million euros from last year’s total pot.

Play begins Sunday, May 24, with champions and runners-up earning significantly more at the top of the payout structure. The men’s and women’s singles champions each receive 2.8 million euros, while the runners-up earn 1.4 million euros, according to tournament figures. Semifinalists receive 750,000 euros and first-round losers get 87,000 euros.

The tournament also outlined prize amounts for doubles events, including 600,000 euros for the men’s and women’s doubles winners and 122,000 euros for the mixed doubles champions. Officials linked the updated purse to a slate of operational changes and scheduling decisions for this year’s championship.

Tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said the French Open will allow, for the first time, players to wear portable devices on court to collect data on their physical performances. She also stressed that the equipment raises privacy concerns, which she said the tournament intends to address through rules for player areas. Mauresmo said tennis should “maintain respect for privacy” and include a secluded space for players.

Mauresmo’s comments came after concerns about camera access at the Australian Open. She referenced how Coco Gauff’s racket-smashing away from the court went viral after a concern about access to cameras, and she noted that Iga Swiatek said the level of access made players feel watched “like ‘animals in the zoo.’” Speaking without mentioning the Australian Open, Mauresmo said players need “a private area, something which will not change,” adding, “No cam access (there).”

The tournament director also discussed how the French Open will balance new approaches with longstanding practices in officiating. Mauresmo said the French Open will remain committed to human line judges rather than using electronic line-calling adopted by Wimbledon and most major tennis tournaments, acknowledging that officials are “not 100% reliable” but saying the tournament’s decision is “to stick to our way.”

On match structure, Mauresmo said women could play best-of-five sets in more situations, but she framed it as a discussion that would require involvement from players. She described the challenge of changing match formats “overnight,” and said options like expanding best-of-five beyond the later rounds would need to be talked through with women players. She added that she would have wanted that format from earlier in her career, referencing her 2005 Masters final when she said the format had just been stopped.

Mauresmo also addressed ceremony and scheduling for this year’s finals weekend. She said there will be an opening ceremony before the men’s and women’s finals, lasting about six minutes, and that French choreographer Benjamin Millepied would be in charge of the program. On scheduling, she said there will be discussion closer to the time and that “nothing is closed and nothing is set in stone,” depending on draws and lineups, while also noting one change from last year’s schedule: the men’s doubles final will be played before the women’s singles final rather than afterward.

Outside the stadium schedule, officials described fan-focused events and tributes during the tournament. They said there will be a Jardin des Chefs, with 13 French chefs working daily near Court Simonne-Mathieu so fans can sample French gastronomy, and they said Concorde Square will again show matches on a large screen for free during the second week from June 3-7. The tournament will also pay tribute to French veterans Gaël Monfils and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, both of whom are set to retire at the end of the season.

Finally, the French Tennis Federation said it will continue investing in clay as a defining feature of the tournament. Federation director Gilles Moretton said there will be strong investment in building more clay courts, real or synthetic, and he described clay courts as making up 13% of courts in France.