French Open prize money to increase by 9.5%

Coco Gauff (right) beat Aryna Sabalenka to become women's champion at last year's French Open [Getty Images]

Prize money at this year's French Open will increase by 9.5%, with the largest rises directed towards the qualifying competition and the early rounds.

The singles' champions will each take home 2.8m euros (£2.44m) - an increase of 9.8%.

There will be nearly 13% more prize money for the qualifying rounds, and main draw first-round losers will receive 87,000 euros (£75,700) - an increase of 11.5%.

Players are currently campaigning for greater prize money at the Grand Slams, plus a contribution to their welfare benefits.

The percentage increase offered by the French Tennis Federation (FFT) is nearly twice as high as last year, but does not match the rise given in the past year by the US Open and the Australian Open.

Prize money at last year's US Open rose by 20%, with the figure for the Australian Open nearly 16% higher.

'We're looking how to help the tennis ecosystem'

The women's world number five Jessica Pegula is one of the players at the forefront of the campaign for a greater contribution from the Slams.

Speaking to BBC Sport at Indian Wells last month, the American acknowledged recent improvements, but argued it would help to spread the increased rewards more widely.

"I do think the US Open stepped up a lot in that aspect," Pegula said.

"But even in that case all the money went towards the end of the tournament and what we're looking for is how we help the ecosystem of the sport and maybe that's spreading it out in the lower rounds a little bit more evenly.

"There are a lot of people that are trying to survive so I think it's helping seeing them contribute to that and not just solely to the person that wins the tournament.

"We love playing the Slams - I don't think anyone's going to strike against the Slams.

"I just think it's us asking for what we think we deserve, but I do think that if the men and the women can come together - which we have on that front - and keep pushing, there's nothing wrong with us just asking for what we think is right."

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What else will change at French Open?

Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has promised there will be no expansion of cameras in player areas at Roland Garros this year.

Iga Swiatek said players were being watched "like animals in the zoo" at January's Australian Open.

Coco Gauff called for more privacy after being caught on camera smashing her racquet at Melbourne Park, and Pegula described the constant filming as an "invasion of privacy".

"The broadcasters want to know more about players - it's true," Mauresmo said at the news conference in Paris.

"But we want to maintain the respect for their privacy. They need to have a private area, so we won't change on that stance."

Some players will also be happy to know they will be allowed to wear approved fitness trackers for the first time at Roland Garros.

Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were all asked to remove devices before matches at the Australian Open, but a trial has now been agreed which will extend to Wimbledon and the US Open.

Tracking technology can help monitor a person's sleep, strain, stress and heart, and has been allowed on the WTA and ATP Tours for some time.

One tradition which will remain at Roland Garros for at least another year is line judges.

The other three Grand Slams have introduced electronic line calling (ELC) in recent years, and it has been mandatory on the ATP Tour since 2025.

But Gilles Moretton, the president of the FFT, maintains the technology is far from perfect and that line judges play a vital role in the ecosystem of French tennis.

"We look around, we see what is going on elsewhere, we see that it's not perfect - there's a 10% margin of error," Moretton claimed.

"We saw it in Madrid last year. There was a picture taken by a player [Alexander Zverev - of a mark on the clay].

"But we have tournaments every weekend, every week. We need these people, they do a wonderful job.

"On clay, we are lucky because we can have the footprints of the balls."

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