Without a doubt, Rafa Nadal is the best Spanish tennis player in history. With 20 ‘grand slams’ and fifty Masters 1000 behind him, he also boasts, along with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, to be the most awarded. Perhaps that is why, his unexpected defeat in the Australian Open quarterfinals has been a pitcher of cold water for those who expected him to become the player with the ‘greatest’ of all time – he is tied with Federer. Be that as it may, the Balearic will return from the antipodes as number 2 in the world and a good ‘pinch’ -about 337,000 euros-. But He is not the only Spanish tennis player who has made his ‘August’ after losing in Australia.
In the midst of the global pandemic of the coronavirus, the tournament organization has slightly increased the total prize money this year, going from 45 to 46 million euros. The main difference is that the winner of both the men’s and women’s singles will take 31% less than in 2020, to compensate precisely the players who do not pass the first rounds -with commercial contracts, a priori, less lucrative-. In fact, the award for losing in the first round is increased by 16% compared to the previous year, reaching 64,000 euros per head.
It is true that it is easier to frivolize with the figures that are handled in elite sport at the moment, but the truth is that, with record numbers in terms of unemployment and more than 700,000 Spaniards in ERTE situation, it is inevitable to make comparisons: the minimum prize of the tournament is equivalent to about 2.5 average annual salaries in Spain -of about 27,000 euros-, that is, Just for losing a game in Australia, every member of the Navy has taken the same as the average worker in 36 months. In many cases, even more.
Along with Nadal, 13 Spanish tennis players – nine boys and four girls – have reached at least the first round at this year’s Australian Open. Garbiñe Muguruza, which reached the fourth round, is the second with the highest prize -something more than 200,000 euros-. His case, like that of other ‘top’ tennis players like Feliciano López or Pablo Carreño -that fell in the men’s third round- or Roberto Bautista -eliminated in the first match of the tournament-, they are the least serious for the ‘pocket’, since all of them accumulate more than 10 million euros won only in prizes throughout his career. Apart, of course, from his lucrative business contracts.
Nor is the consolation prize short for other veterans such as Albert Ramos -who lost the opening match-, Pablo Andújar or Roberto Carballés -They both fell in the second round-. Different is the case of the ‘novices’. One of the great sensations of the tournament, Pedro Martinez, he pocketed no less than 138.000 euros to get to the third round. Mario Vilella, who had to go through the Qualifier -rounds prior to the official start of the Australian Open-, won a prize of 64,000 euros, the minimum, exactly the same as Paula Badosa, Aliona Bolsova and Sara Sorribes in the female box.
For its part, Carlos Alcaraz, the youngest in the Navy, won by falling in the second round the same as in all of last year, almost 100.000 euros. His case is one of the most particular: his 17 years, Juan Carlos Ferrero’s pupil is called to lead the next generation of Spanish tennis. So much so that he already occupies the position 141 in the world, has maintained since 2019 -when he was 15 years old- a lucrative contract with Babolat for rackets and with Nike -before he had it with Lotto- and, as he recognized this same week Its representative, the big brands are already raffling it off to be the next face of a watch, a perfume or a car. Who knows.
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