With $50m up for grabs, the Australian Open is not a bad racket

The winners of this year’s Australian Open will pocket more money than anyone in the history of the tournament.

Rafael Nadal stretches for a forehand as he tries to edge closer to the men’s singles title at the Australian Open and the $3.7m that goes with it.

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The winners of this year’s Australian Open will pocket more money than anyone in the history of the Melbourne-based tournament, with the total prize pool now topping $50 million, and singles winners’ cheques second only among grand slams to the US Open.

The total pool for the Australian competition has increased 3½ times since 2001, when equal pay for male and female players was introduced.

The total prizemoney has been raised almost 14 per cent for this year’s competition, with the men’s and women’s singles winners set to walk away with $3.7m each, up from $3.4m last year. Players who make it through round one receive $50,000 for their appearance. The Australian Open women’s singles final will be played tomorrow evening, with the men’s singles final on Sunday night.

That $50m round figure for 2017 compares with a total of $13.85m in 2001, when gender pay equality was introduced at the Australian Open, a landmark that fell 28 years after the US Open made the move but several years before the French Open and Wimbledon.

Other grand slam tournaments have also been lifting their prizemoney in recent years, with the 2016 winners of Wimbledon claiming £2m ($3.33m), the US Open winners walking away with $US3.5m ($4.62m) and French Open champions pocketing €2m ($2.84m).

Despite the recent prize pool hike the Australian Open purse remains modest in US dollar terms. During the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Australian Opens, however, the Australian dollar was above parity with the US dollar and as a result was sometimes the most ­lucrative tennis competition in the world.

Still it ranks well compared with other individual sports. The winner of golf’s US Masters earns $US1.8m ($2.37m) and the Tour de France cycling champion is awarded €500,000 ($710,240). Australian Olympic gold medallists, meanwhile, receive a $20,000 bonus for their efforts.

At the same time, the $50m Australian Open prize pool could pay 4½ AFL teams for a year, seven NRL teams and 45 NBL teams — it’s also almost 12 times more than the total payment pool for Australia’s national female cricketers.

While it dwarfs most other individual sports, the prizemoney involved in tennis makes up a small part of top tier players’ earnings, with Roger Federer banking $US67.8m in financial 2016, according to Forbes, largely through endorsements and appearances.

Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who was knocked out at the third round of this year’s tournament, was candid earlier this month when he described himself as “set for life”. “I mean, I’ve got to still respect the sport; that’s why I’m playing,” Tomic said in an interview. “I’m in this business to make as much money as I can to retire and have a good life, that’s the main priority now.”