Australian Open prize money: Andy Murray makes his first million of 2015
Kim Sears may have been a picture of frustration in the Rod Laver Arena crowd yesterday, but her boyfriend Andy Murray has every reason to be happy after sealing his place in the Australian Open final for the fourth time.
Murray has now guaranteed himself his first six-figure paycheck of 2015, even if he falls short in the eighth grand slam final of his career.
Runners-up at the Australian Open receive AUD $1,550,000 (£770,000) in prize money, while the champion home takes home double that (£1.6m). Murray’s familiar foe Novak Djokovic is all that stands in between the Scot and the top prize in Melbourne.
We’re still in January and Murray has made almost a third of what he earned throughout the whole of 2014, when he finished the season with winnings of £2.6m. If he can repeat the feat that saw him win the 2013 Wimbledon championship and beat Novak Djokovic, Murray will have made 62 per cent of last season’s total.
It would also see him rocket to the top of the ATP Tour’s prize money for 2015, although that position wouldn’t be reflected in his ranking.
Murray’s biggest year in terms of prize money came in 2012, when the then-24-year-old pocketed £3.8m from his on-court exploits which included his first ever grand slam triumph at the US Open as well as an appearance in the Wimbledon final. It was also the only time he finished the year as the number three-ranked player in the world.
This year’s Australian Open also marks the first tournament Murray has appeared in since signing a lucrative four-year sponsorship deal with US manufacturer Under Armour. Murray’s bank balance is believed to have got a £15m boost from the deal, worth £750,000 more per year than his previous deal with Adidas.