Finals weekend is getting underway at the Madrid Open with two very different stories in the women’s and men’s draws. It’s a rematch of last year’s final for the WTA, as world No. 1 Iga Swiatek takes on world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who came out on top 12 months ago. A new champion will be crowned on the ATP side as Andrey Rublev faces first-time Masters finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime on Sunday. Express Sport takes a look at how much money the stars are playing for…
The Madrid Open is a joint ATP and WTA tournament and offers equal prize money for men and women. There is a total prize money pot of £6,758,033 (€7,877,020) on offer per tour for the singles.
Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rublev and Auger-Aliassime will all be playing for the top prize, a winner’s cheque of £826k (€963k) when they take to the Manolo Santana Stadium over finals weekend. Meanwhile, the runner-up will pocket £439k (€512k).
The winners will also receive 1000 ranking points for their efforts. However, as the defending champion, Sabalenka can only retain the points she earned for lifting the trophy a year ago. The world No. 2 is keen to fight for another title after edging out Swiatek in a close three-setter 6-3 3-6 6-3 when they met at the same stage 12 months ago.
“I mean, it’s going to be great final. We had so many great matches with Iga. Always tough battles,” the 25-year-old said after beating Elena Rybakina in the semi-final. “I’m super excited for this final. Once again, I’m going to do everything to get this win.”
Swiatek and Sabalenka have met nine times, with the Pole leading their head-to-head with six wins to three losses. However, she still feels that she hasn’t always been able to implement her game plan when facing Sabalenka.
The four-time Grand Slam champion explained: “I wouldn’t say we’re trying to figure out, because we kind of know what I should play, but sometimes it wasn’t easy to implement it. So I still feel like I haven’t played, you know, this match where I tactically played the best, you know, from the beginning till the end against these players.
“So this is something that I want to kind of improve. So it’s not like we need to, you know, change a lot, but we need to, you know, stick to the plan and I need to implement it a little bit better, I think, sometimes.”
As for Rublev and Auger-Aliassime, it will be uncharted territory when they step on court for Sunday’s men’s final. The Russian has contested four Masters finals, winning Monte Carlo last year, but this will be his first time playing for the trophy in Madrid. Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime will be playing the biggest final of his career, reaching this stage at a Masters event for the first time.
