Sydney, January 2:

Women tennis players will earn more prize money than their male counterparts at next week’s Sydney International tournament.

Of the near $1.1 million up for grabs, the women will be vying for $600,000, while the men will be playing for $484,750. Tournament director Craig Watson said the discrepancy was due to the category of the event on the respective ATP and WTA tours. “The women’s (WTA) event is a Premier 600, which refers to the prize money figure and the men’s is an ATP 250 Series, which refers to the ranking points the new champion will receive.” The women’s champion will earn $98,500, while the men’s winner will pick up $78,500.

Nine-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams headlines the women’s tournament along with third-ranked Dinara Safina and Beijing gold medallist Elena Dementieva. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, his French compatriot Gilles Simon and Argentina’s David Nalbandian are the top seeds in the men’s draw. The January 11-17 event is a key warm up tournament ahead of this month’s Australian Open.