The 2024 Australian Open committed a record prize money in the region of A$86.5 million and generated sufficient returns in the form of ticket sales and advertising.
For instance, this year, the tournament broke new ground by opening its turnstiles to one million fans throughout the fortnight to watch Australia's biggest sporting spectacle of the summer. It shattered the attendance record of the yesteryears.
It is widely believed that the attendance can only continue to grow. The tournament also made back a small portion of revenue from fines for offenses that tennis players committed at the event, which were deemed to have contravened the Grand Slam Code of Conduct.
Tennis, like any other professional sport, is guarded by a set of principles and rules that must be followed at all times. Players must maintain the highest levels of discipline, punctuality, and professionalism when competing in a tournament.
As such, at this year's Australian Open, the list of fines was recently published, with the tournament deducting a combined sum of $76,000 from player prize money across both tours for players who stepped out of line.
Fines in Grand Slam tournaments are levied by the Grand Slam board and not the ITF, as many might think. In the case of the Australian Open, the governing body is Tennis Australia. During the 2024 tournament, at least 20 players were fined - 7 women and 13 men.
Some of the highest amounts of the fines were incurred by the Russian duo of Daniil Medvedev and Anastasia Potapova, who will receive their prize money short of $6,000 and $8,000, respectively, for unsportsmanlike conduct and racket abuse.
Although Medvedev's case was not specified by the tournament, it is speculated that his prompt racket throw halfway across the court during his second-round match against Emil Ruusuvupri might have caused the sanction.
Potapova, meanwhile, broke multiple rackets during a shocking first-round loss to Kaja Juvan. The Slovenian player even retrieved one of Potapova's broken rackets at the end of the match and gifted it to a spectator.
Most players who were penalized were linked to cases of racket abuse. Tommy Paul broke his racket during his third-round exit at the hands of Miomir Kecmanovic, costing him $4,000.
0 Comments