2 days Ago
The Credit One Charleston Open will double its prize money next year to more than $2 million, matching the purse at similar tournaments on the men’s pro tennis tour. Charleston Open Ben Navarro made the announcement on April 6, the final day of a record-breaking week for the largest women’s-only tournament in North America. The Charleston Open is the first WTA 500 event to voluntarily increase its prize money ahead of a 2033 deadline for 500- and 1000-level tournaments to offer equal prize money to the men’s tour.
“For me, it’s not a matter of equality,” said Navarro, a Charleston businessman and philanthropist whose daughter, Emma, is ranked No. 11 on the WTA Tour. “It’s a matter of, the women are awesome.
If you watched the tennis this week, the work that goes in, the kinds of athletes we’re getting to witness — they are the very best in the world, and they deserve to be paid a market rate.” The total purse for the 2025 Charleston Open is $1,064,510, with $164,000 going to the champion. There is not a definite figure for the 2026 purse, but it should be more than $2 million, Navarro said.
The increase in prize money is part of a contract extension with sponsor Credit One Bank, also owned by Navarro, through the 2031 tournament. “If we can pay a market rate that’s consistent with the men, which we can, then I’m thrilled to make that happen,” Navarro said. “To me, it’s a supply and demand thing, and the women have earned it.
” The Charleston Open has been named the WTA 500 Tournament of the Year for three straight years. Is there any shot of moving up a level? There are only 10 WTA 1000-level tournaments, including Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati in the U.S.
The total purses this year at those WTA tournaments are $9.7 million in Indian Wells, $8.9 million in Miami and $3.
2 million in Cincinnati. “We’d love to see (Charleston) move up, but what’s realistic?” Navarro said. “There are not a lot of spots at the next level.
We’ve won tournament of the year three years in a row, and that’s a credit to (tournament director) Bob Moran and his team. “And so I think we can continue to improve. And if we can’t necessarily be a higher designation in terms of a 500 or 1000 tournament, we can continue to set the bar.
Hopefully, we did some of that with this announcement.”.
