With $10.59 million in tournament winnings, Jannik Sinner is the current leader in tennis prize money won through Sept. 9. The Italian took home $3.6 million for winning the U.S. Open in September to go along with the $2.1 million he earned for his first major title at the Australian Open in January. Sinner was recently docked the $325,000 he earned at Indian Wells after testing positive for a banned substance, but he more than made up for it by winning his sixth tournament of 2024.
Aryna Sabalenka, the other singles winner in both Melbourne and New York, ranks third with $7.98 million in year-to-date prize money. The women’s world No. 2 received the same payouts as Sinner for her wins at the two hard-court Grand Slams but has won just one other title this year.
Carlos Alcaraz ranks second with $8.16 million thanks to his two major wins at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Just 21 years old, Alcaraz is already ninth all-time in ATP career prize money, with a total of more than $35 million.
Halfway through the season, women occupy three of the top 10 spots in the 2024 prize money rankings. Forty-nine men and 44 women have earned more than $1 million so far this calendar year from their on-court performance.
The U.S. Open, which concluded on Sunday, was the last of the four Grand Slams in 2024. The last chance for the top players to cash in big this year will be the ATP Tour Finals and WTA Tour Finals in November. The latter has already announced a purse of $15.2 million to be distributed among an exclusive group of eight participants.
How does prize money work in tennis?
When tennis players participate in tournaments, they are compensated based on the round in which they lose, with payouts escalating somewhat exponentially as the player continues to win. A first-round loser at 2024 Indian Wells will receive $30,050, while the tournament runner-up will win $585,000 and the champion $1.1 million.
Singles draws generally pay out more money than doubles draws, but singles players also pad their earnings by participating in doubles at events that feature both formats.
The money at stake in different tournaments varies greatly. Throughout the year, there are 250-level, 500-level and 1000-level events; the number refers to how many ranking points winners receive. Tournaments with more points on the line generally pay more money.
Which tennis tournament has the highest prize money?
The four majors—the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open—award 2,000 ranking points. They also have larger purses.
For instance, the 2023 U.S. Open allocated $3 million to each singles winner, while the 2023 Winston-Salem Open, an ATP 250 event, dished out $104,000 to its champion the prior week. Many pros also compete on the Challenger Tour, where players typically take home low five figures for winning an event.
Although the ATP Finals and WTA Finals at the end of the calendar draw much less public attention than the majors, they are extremely lucrative. In fact, the $4.41 million that Novak Djokovic earned for winning the 2023 ATP Finals is nearly more than he made for winning the 2023 Australian Open ($2 million) and the 2023 French Open ($2.5 million) combined.
Do men make more than women in tennis?
Last year, 15 women and 21 men earned at least $2 million. The four majors have all paid both genders equally since 2007, but many marquee events in which men and women both play simultaneously still pay men far more. For instance, the Cincinnati Open paid out approximately $6.6 million to male players in 2023 and just $2.8 million to female players, while prize money disparities at lower-level tournaments are even worse.
In 2022, Świątek was so dominant on the court that she nearly became the first woman to be the highest-paid tennis player in a single season since 2003, when Kim Clijsters ($4.47 million) out-earned Roger Federer ($4 million). In 2023, however, the gender pay gap at the top of the sport was the largest in decades. The top 10 male players collectively earned $84.6 million in 2023, 62% more than the $52.1 million earned by the top 10 female players.
In the global professional sports landscape, tennis still offers the most earning potential for women, as seven of the 10 highest-paid female athletes in 2023 played tennis. Many tournaments have committed to offering equal pay in the near future, but there is still much work to be done to close the gap overall.
Male tennis stars also benefit significantly from ATP bonus pools, which share additional profits with the game’s top players. Bonus payouts are predicated on year-end ranking and participation in a certain number of 1000-level tournaments, but last year the pool ballooned to $21.3 million, where it remains for 2024.
Which tennis player has the most prize money?
For both genders, tennis is dominated financially by the elites. Last year, Djokovic earned nearly four times that of the 11th highest-paid man, Taylor Fritz, and there was a similar ratio between Swiatek’s earnings and those of the 11th highest-paid woman, Petra Kvitova.
The ATP Finals and WTA Finals had purses last year exceeding $14 million and $9 million, respectively. These tournaments only include the top eight players in the rankings, which contributes to the top-heavy prize money distribution in tennis. They are essentially "rich get richer" events to end the season.
Djokovic’s 2023 ATP Finals win gave him the fifth-most prize money ever in a season, with inflation giving him a boost over his own dominant 2011 and 2012 campaigns. He now holds five of the top 10 prize money seasons of all time and entered the season with a $46 million lead over Rafael Nadal for the most career winnings.
