French Open Dir Ysern Says Tournament Plans To Increase Prize Money

French Open tournament Dir Gilbert Ysern indicated the tournament planned to increase prize money "spectacularly" over the next four years, according to Christopher Clarey of the N.Y. TIMES. After U.S. Open officials initially announced a $4M increase in total men’s and women’s prize money for '13, the news "is not suprising." Ysern declined to give precise figures. He said, "We’re going to be below the U.S. Open, but we’re on the same path.” Ysern said that the emphasis would remain on "increasing rewards for players who are eliminated in earlier rounds." One of the driving forces behind the ATPs’ prize-money push has been the "collective desire to increase the pool of players making a healthy living from the professional game." Ysern said, “I am particularly convinced there’s a logic to reducing the gap between the first- week players and the second-week players and to raise the prize money for the first week. I think that really is logical, but after that, I think you have to be reasonable" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/21).