The popular success of the 2021 edition of the Masters 1000 in Paris, after a tournament played behind closed doors in 2020, will double the prize money initially planned for players, said tournament director Guy Forget on Sunday.
“
The public came back in large numbers. After a record-breaking 2019 with over 140,000 tickets sold, playing this behind-the-scenes tournament last year was extremely difficult for us and for the players. Today (this year), we sold 120,000 tickets, it's an exceptional performance knowing that we were at 60,000 a month ago,
”noted Forget.
"
The success of ticket sales is also linked to the quality of the game produced
", he stressed, recalling the overheated atmosphere with "the
scent of Davis Cup
" which accompanied the exploits of Hugo Gaston, up to in the quarter-finals through the qualifications, or the final which pitted the world No.1 Novak Djokovic against his runner-up Daniil Medvedev in a remake of the final of the US Open.
"
If I had been able to sign before the tournament for this kind of final with a room + sold out + since Wednesday evening and a French team in the doubles final (Mahut-Herbert, editor's note), I would have signed with both hands
", launched Forget.
Suddenly, and in application of ATP rules, the players will have the good surprise of receiving approximately double the endowment initially planned (2.6 M EUR in total, including 336,000 euros for the winner of the singles).
“
Depending on the number of tickets we were going to sell, the prize money was going to increase,” said Forget.
With this surprising figure of 120,000 tickets, we will double our prize money and come on (get closer to) that of 2019. I do not know if the players already know it, but we are delighted to have made this performance.
"
"
Few tournaments can say + we managed to keep the figures of 2019+
", welcomed the tournament director.
“
It is also to the credit of the players who, by the quality of the show, encouraged people to come.
There are days when we sold several thousand tickets overnight
”.
In 2019, before the pandemic, the prize money for the Masters 1000 in Paris was a total of 5.077 million euros, including 995.720 euros for the winner of the singles (Novak Djokovic).
The exact amounts for the 2021 edition are not yet available.