It has long been the case that top-class tennis players are well rewarded for their efforts, with many of the biggest names regularly featuring on lists of the world’s highest paid athletes.
While endorsements remain hugely valuable, tournament victories also generate plenty of revenue, particularly at the five events below which we have ranked below from lowest to highest for total purses.
5 ATP Finals – $14.75m
The only non-Grand Slam on this list and the least prestigious, but still a valuable prize in its own right, the ATP Tour Finals is the season-ending finale which has been won by many of tennis’s great names over the years.
Curiously, Rafael Nadal has never won the ATP’s showpiece event, but Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are both six-time winners of the singles title.
Despite just eight singles players being invited to participate (plus alternates) and a further eight doubles pairings, a mega-money $14.75million (US) was up for grabs in Turin in 2022, where Djokovic won the title.
4 French Open – $46.5m
While Nadal has never tasted success in the Tour Finals, the Spanish legend has dominated the French Open, which is the first of four Grand Slams which make up the remainder of this quintet.
Staged at Roland Garros, in Paris, the French Open is the only Slam to take place on clay and the 2022 edition featured a whopping €43.6m in prize money, which is equivalent to $46.5m US.
Nadal claimed the French Open for the 14th time in June while Poland’s Iga Swiatek won the women’s title for the second time and both players pocketed a cool €2.2m for their troubles.
3 Wimbledon – $49.55m
Arguably the most prestigious, but not the highest paying, Wimbledon comes in at number three on the list thanks to a total prize money of £40.35m in 2022.
Converted to $49.55m, Wimbledon’s total prize money is not to be sniffed at with Djokovic and women’s singles winner Elena Rybakina well compensated to the tune of £2m for their triumphs earlier in the year.
That figure dwarfs the men’s cheque handed out at the first professional Wimbledon, in 1968, when Australian legend Rod Laver was paid just £2,000 for winning the singles crown.
2 Australian Open – $53.5m
The Australian Open has often been referred to as the Happy Slam and it’s no wonder with the first major tournament of the season coming in at number two on the list of total prize money.
There were 75 million Australian dollars (equivalent to $53.5m in US) up for grabs at the 2022 edition of the event, when Nadal won the $2.5m winners cheque on the men’s side and home hero Ash Barty claimed the women’s title before retiring at the top of the game.
1 US Open – $60m
They say everything is bigger in America so it is no surprise to see the US Open take number one in terms of total prize money with an eye-watering $60m total purse, eclipsing all the other Grand Slams.
The Flushing Meadows extravaganza is the final Slam of the season and one they all want to win, and it is no wonder with $2.6m taken home by the 2022 tournament winners, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek.
