New mom Naomi Osaka is making her tennis comeback at this year’s Australian Open, which begins Jan. 8, with first-round qualifying matches. The event, one of the top four major tennis tournaments in the world, is held every year in January at Melbourne Park.
The competition ends on Jan. 11, when players take part in final-round qualifying matches in hopes of making it into the main draw.
There also will be practice matches between big names, as well as exhibition matches featuring stars who will raise money for causes important to them.
Players on this year’s roster include Rafael Nadal, who is returning from injury and aiming for his record-breaking 23rd Grand Slam title; Iga Swiatek, who won her second Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2022, becoming the first Polish player to win the title; Nick Kyrgios, who suffered a serious elbow injury in late 2022 and is hoping to make a comeback at the Australian Open; Delray Beach resident Coco Gauff, who won the women’s singles U.S. Open in 2023 and reached the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2023, becoming the youngest player to do so since Jennifer Capriati in 1991 and Carlos Alcaraz and Holger Rune, who are vying for their first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open 2024.
If you are wondering how much is at stake, the 2023 prize money totaled a record $52.8 million. The winner of the singles championship (men and women) walked away with $1.9 million. Runner-ups took home a little more than $1 million. In doubles, the winners split almost $453,000 while the runner-ups split nearly $241,000.
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