• Victoria’s latest coronavirus scare comes days before the Australian Open is slated to begin.
• While tennis superstars can earn millions, even talented pros can struggle to break even on the international circuit.
• Government figures and organisers say the tournament will go ahead, but tensions will be high among players whose careers rely on early-round prize money.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

As Victorians cope with yet another coronavirus scare, some of the world’s best tennis players face the same anxious wait for news. For some, it could have a career-changing impact.

Wednesday’s revelation that a Melbourne hotel quarantine worker contracted COVID-19 saw more than 520 Australian Open players and staff ordered to undergo coronavirus testing.

At Melbourne Park, the news saw Thursday’s pre-tournament matches completely wiped from the schedule.

But government authorities and tournament organisers are confident the Australian Open, which is scheduled to begin on Monday, will still take place.

Dozens of tennis pros – whose sporting lives may hinge on early-round prize money – would certainly hope so.

Finding the baseline

For every Roger Federer or Serena Williams, who habitually dazzle Australian tennis fans and earn millions in the process, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of lower-ranked circuit pros who hardly break even.

It is not uncommon for regional tournaments to offer six-figure prize purses, but travel expenses, coaching fees, and the cost of high-level sports medicine can greatly diminish a decent pro’s pay packet.

An oft-cited 2015 study, led by Australian researchers, found that men’s singles players on the pro circuit need to earn $160,000 per annum just to stay afloat. The study posited that in 2013, only the top 160 men, and top 150 women, made enough through tennis to make a profit.

It appears the tennis establishment wants to address that inequality. Before the 2020 Australian Open, tournament director Craig Tiley touted significant increases in prize money for qualifying tournaments and early-round knockouts.

“We strongly believe in growing prize money at all levels of the game,” he said, “and we will continue to work with the playing group to create viable career paths in the sport and enable more players to make more money.”

In 2021, Australian Open players will tussle for $80 million in prize money. And the lucky players who got this far are effectively guaranteed $100,000 just for showing up.

One hundred grand (slam)

Each of the 256 men’s and women’s singles players will net six figures for reaching the first round of the Australian Open, an increase of $10,000 from the opening rewards offered in 2020.

That figure reportedly climbs by $150,000 for players who make the second round. Prize money spikes from there: players bundled out in the quarter-finals will have earned well in excess of $1 million, potentially easing the sting of defeat.

And at the end of the Australian Open, each men’s and women’s singles winner stands to earn $2.75 million for the final match – on top of their cumulative earnings to that point.

While Australia’s own World #1 Ash Barty and repeated Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic are now acquainted with those dizzying highs, even qualifying for the Australian Open can provide a significant windfall for talented pros without the same celebrity cache.

Spanish talent Carlos Alcaraz, 17, earned his Australian Open berth through a qualification tournament, and just appearing in the first round will nearly double his career earnings to date.

That early-round cash boost is no less sweet for talented veterans on the circuit, whose careers may include fruitless tournament spells, season-ending injuries, and personal commitments away from the game.

Take Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova. The 33-year-old is hardly an unknown, and reached the Australian Open every year between 2006 and 2017.

But Pironkova took a break from tennis to recover from a shoulder injury and undertake maternity leave, only returning to the court in early 2020.

The world #137 will now take another swing at Grand Slam glory, thanks to her latest Australian Open qualification. And she’ll earn at least $100,000 on the way.

Spinning out

At least, that’s what players should earn when the tournament begins on Monday. Any postponement or cancellation could drastically change the equation.

In June 2020, it was revealed the Australian Open’s long-running pandemic insurance policy, which was signed in the aftermath of the SARS pandemic, was due to expire.

That moment of cosmic misfortune was amplified in December, when tournament director Tiley confirmed to the Australian Financial Review the cover was unable to be renewed.

“We were negotiating an extension back in February, March but all the insurance companies held off and now you can’t get it,” he said.

Wimbledon – which held similar pandemic insurance – was able to pay qualified players considerable sums when its 2020 event was cancelled.

Without that safety net, Australian Open organisers would be hoping, more than ever, that Victoria is capable of suppressing the latest spate of community transmission.

Luckily for the tournament, authorities are confident the event will go ahead.

Despite today’s warm-up matches being called off, Professor Allen Cheng, Victoria’s deputy chief health officer, said on Thursday it is “unlikely” the tournament will be scratched.

Tiley agreed, saying he is “absolutely confident” the event will carry on.

That’s good news for Australian sports fans, hoping to emerge from the murky depths of COVID-19 lockdowns – and world tennis stars, who may see the Australian Open as a windfall after a financially crushing 2020.

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