Ash Barty our top money earner but Covid hits hip pocket

World No 1 Ash Barty led her compatriots in terms of income for the third straight year after a stunning start to a season she where she was largely sidelined by the pandemic.

Ash Barty was Australian tennis’ leading money winner for the third season in a row. John Millman, pictured in the background, also enjoyed a successful year. Picture: Stewart McLean

Ash Barty has finished a disrupted 2020 as Australia’s leading prizemoney earner for the third season in succession despite not playing a competitive point since February.

Courtesy of a brilliant January in which she reached the Australian Open semi-finals and claimed a maiden title on home soil in Adelaide, the world No 1 earned $1.43m.

She edges the $1.4m earned by Alex de Minaur, Australia’s top-ranked man, who reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time at the US Open in September.

They were the only Australians to win more than $1m in a difficult season that was suspended from March until August, with John Millman and Jordan Thompson the next top earners.

Millman won $836,640 and Thompson $797,273. Nick Kyrgios was next on $738,532.

The earnings of Australia’s best players are lucrative but they are far below the income the quartet earned a year before, despite some career-best performances.

It is not surprising Barty, who placed a premium on her health rather than play this year, pocketed less money than any other season return since making her comeback to the tour in 2017.

De Minaur claimed just over half the prizemoney he claimed in 2019, while Millman and Thompson’s earnings were down by about a third on last year’s.

Prizemoney totals do not factor in costs such as travel, accommodation, coaching and medical expenses. Thompson, for instance, could’ve paid out two-thirds of his winnings on expenses.

The perception of tennis as a wealthy sport does not always match the reality. The very best reap remarkable rewards but for others like Chris O’Connell, financial stress is very much a part of a touring life where there are no guarantees of success.

O’Connell is ranked 120 in the world and at the Australian Open took a set off Daniil Medvedev, the Russian who won the prestigious ATP Tour Finals last month.

But the Sydneysider needed to apply for JobKeeper during the first wave of COVID-19 to stay afloat.

With Nick Kyrgios an exception, Australia’s leading men made the decision to return to the tour when it resumed for economic reasons despite their unease about the pandemic.

Millman, who was rewarded for his decision when claiming a maiden ATP Tour title and is in contention to win the tour’s sportsmanship award, had weighed up the merits of touring but is mindful he is now in his 30s.

“Like a lot of other Australians right now, I need to get out and work and, despite being in a compromised position, this is my work,” Millman said.

Melbourne-based tennis administrator Peter Johnston, who runs events in Russia and China alongside the Kooyong Classic, fears the situation will become more testing for those close to breaking into the top 100.

Specialist tennis news site Open Court has reported the Primrose Challenger, which is a successful event held in Bordeaux in the lead-in to the French Open, is already off the 2021 calendar.

“What is the future of Challenger and ITF tournaments? They are generally cost centres,” Johnston told The Australian. “That discretionary funding reserved to spend on those types of events is not going to be as readily available.”

There are reports of angst in some quarters regarding the quarantine protocols players will face in Australia later this summer, which will be the most stringent they have faced to date.

A chat with @ashbarty and @CTyzzer on their reunion in #Brisbane, beach training sessions with Pat #Rafter, the pain of missing @rolandgarros and on the upcoming Aussie summer after a training session on the eve of the @AFL grand final. https://t.co/tT8UK6LYCi

— Courtney Walsh (@walshcee) October 30, 2020

The men's schedule isn't even out for 2021. But five months ahead of time, a solid, well-supported, top-level Challenger like the @BNPPprimrose already has taken itself out of the mix for 2021. It probably won't be the last pandemic casualty.https://t.co/S99KA6F1rj pic.twitter.com/GFLTwNwJun

— Stephanie Myles (@OpenCourt) December 10, 2020

Australian Open officials are offering a generous package for players after a season where earnings and opportunities dipped and there is doubt about what is to come in the months ahead.

While the delay surrounding the starting date of the Australian Open has created great uncertainty, it has been reported the lucrative Indian Wells Masters in March will be postponed in another blow for players.