Tournament director Craig Tiley said in a statement that organisers were focussed on increasing compensation for players in the early rounds and qualifying, with first round losers set for an A$50,000 windfall, up 30 percent from last year.
Similarly, second round prize money has risen 29 percent to A$80,000, with third and fourth round losers to earn A$130,000 and $220,000 respectively. Total prize money for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, runners up and winner is up 9 percent.
The Australian Open starts on Jan. 16 in Melbourne.
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(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru)
