French Open organisers boost prize money by 12 percent

PARIS (Reuters) - French Open organisers have increased the grand slam tournament's prize money by 12 percent to 36 million euros (30.70 million pounds) while narrowing the gap between the earnings of the winners and the first-round losers.

(Reuters)

The winners will pocket 2.1 million euros each, a 100,000-euro increase from 2016, with first-round losers earning 35,000 euros, tournament director Guy Forget told a news conference on Wednesday.

Serbian Novak Djokovic won the men's title while Spaniard Garbine Muguruza claimed the women's title last year.

The 2017 French Open runs from May 28-June 11.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)