SYDNEY -- Australian Open chief executive Paul McNamee says he is confident U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras would compete in next year's Australian Open.

Sampras, who claimed an unprecedented 14th career Grand Slam title by winning the U.S. Open last month when he beat Andre Agassi, hinted in New York that he may bring his glittering career to a close at the end of the year.

McNamee, however, expects the 31-year-old to try and add to the Australian Open titles he won in 1994 and '97. He also anticipates Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, the world's top-ranked player, being the man to beat after an illness-induced, first-round elimination in 2002.

"Pete clearly, when I touched base with him during the U.S. Open, was absolutely intending to play at the Australian Open," McNamee told a news conference in Sydney on Tuesday. "Lleyton won't have chicken pox this (next) year.

"I think if he gets a sniff, it will go off the Richter scale, the whole support. I mean, you've got to keep your fingers crossed for the No. 1 player in the world."

Prize money for the Jan. 13-26 Open has risen by 10 percent to $9.8 million, to be split evenly between the men and women, Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard said.

"It promises to be a landmark year with Serena Williams on course to win a career Grand Slam in singles (and) Lleyton Hewitt looking to be the first Australian in 27 years to lift the men's singles title," an Australian Open media release said on Tuesday.

Ken Rosewall, 68, will mark the 50th anniversary of becoming the youngest player to win the Australian Open men's singles title at age 18 by playing in the tournament's legends event.