Third seed Carlos Alcaraz lifted his maiden French Open title on Sunday after defeating Alexander Zverev four-hour, 19-minute match in front of a packed Phillipe Chatrier. The 21-year-old outlasted the German 6-3, 2-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 in the final to win his third career major and eclipse his idol Rafael Nadal to become the youngest man to collect a major on three surfaces. Nadal was one and a half years older at the time of his achievement back in 2009.
While the win made him the eighth Spaniard to claim a title on Parisian clay, Alcaraz also improved his record to 3-0 in Slam finals, having earlier won the 2022 US Open and Wimbledon last year.
How much did champion Carlos Alcaraz take home with maiden French Open title?
Last month, the organizers of the second Grand Slam tournament of the calendar year made history. They unveiled the prize money for the 2024 edition of the event, which has surged to an all-time high of €53,478,000 (INR 48.2 crore), a remarkable 7.82 per cent increase from the previous year. Alcaraz took home a cheque of €2,400,000 (INR 2.16 crore), 4.35 per cent more than Novak Djokovic received when he lifted the trophy last year.
Meanwhile, runner-up Alexander Zverev earned €1,200,000 (INR 1.08 crore), a 4.35 per cent increase over what Casper Ruud had deposited in his account.
The larger share of the prize money has been distributed among the qualifiers, like the ones who lost in the opening round. They bagged €20,000 (INR 18 lakhs), a 25 per cent boost compared to 2023.
“As in previous years, Roland-Garros has decided to continue to support the players who need it most, to help finance their season and maintain their structure. Prize money for the first three rounds of the singles draw has therefore risen significantly. A more measured rise has been applied to the other rounds,” the statement from the French Tennis Federation had read. “Roland-Garros aims to provide the best possible support for players ranked up to 250th in the world and is continuing to make significant efforts in this area. Total prize money for this part of the competition has risen sharply by 24.65%.”