Australian Open organizers have "increased prize money for the men's and women's winners" by 10%, with each winner to pocket a "cool" A$3M ($2.6M) as the tournament champion in January, according to Scott Spits of THE AGE. The overall prize money is A$36.3M ($32M) and Tennis Australia
will "outline how the money will be broken down in the next few weeks" (THE AGE, 10/7). REUTERS reported the Australian dollar has retreated by more than 6% against the U.S.
dollar over the past month, but the '15 prize pool is "still competitive"
against last year's A$33M, which was worth about $29M when Stan Wawrinka and Li Na clinched the men's and women's singles
titles. Organizers have "also snapped up" former world No. 1 and '09 champion Rafa Nadal as an ambassador. Nadal will work with Tennis Australia to hold a charity event on Jan. 14 at
Margaret Court Arena in the lead-up to the tournament (REUTERS, 10/7). The AFP reported organizers said that they launched the '15 tournament with "plans to attract more fans in Asia." Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said, "We are determined to continually push ourselves to new heights in terms of facilities,
service and the overall experience for players and fans." Organizers said that 17% of all int'l visitors to the tournament in '13 were from the Asia-Pacific region (AFP, 10/7).
