Australian Open prize money revealed: See the huge pay days the winners – and even the losers – are getting in Melbourne
- The prize money at the Australian Open has increased this year
- The host nation has not had a winner in men’s singles since 1976
Tennis stars playing at the 2025 Australian Open will be laughing all the way to the bank given the breathtaking prize money on offer at the first Grand Slam of the season.
The Australian Open has revealed the prize money breakdown for this year’s event, with the prize pool increasing by almost 12 percent from 2024 to $96.5 million.
Novak Djokovic will aim to claim his 25th career Grand Slam – and incredibly, his 11th title at Melbourne Park when the tournament starts on Sunday.
If the Serbian star lifts the trophy on January 26, he will also be rewarded financially, with the men’s singles winner receiving a whopping $3.5 million.
The same enormous prize money applies to the women’s singles, with world number one Aryna Sabalenka being the big favorite in many people’s eyes.
Whoever finishes second will win $1.9 million.
Australian Alex de Minaur hopes to win the men’s singles and claim as much as $3.5 million in prize money
Aryna Sabalenka is the big favorite to win the women’s singles title in Melbourne
Those eliminated early won’t have too much of a hard time, with first-round losers in the men’s and women’s singles receiving $132,000.
Semi-finalists earn $1,100,000, with Australian Open prize money increasing by more than 36 percent over the past five editions.
Doubles players are set to take home $40,000 even if they lose in the first round – with the title winners taking home $810,000 and the runners-up $440,000 per duo.
In 2024, mixed doubles winners received $165,000, but that will increase to $175,000 this year, while runners-up will receive $97,750.
Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley said last year that increasing prize money would ensure that many elite players would not skip the tournament.
‘It is critical to the continued success of the Australian Open that we ensure the best players in the world are appropriately compensated, because we know this [money] allows players to invest in their own careers and in many cases helps them achieve year-round success,” he said in a statement.
“We want to ensure that Australia remains the launching pad for the global tennis season and that the players and their teams have everything they need to help them perform at their best and continue to enjoy the Happy Slam.”
Last week, Djokovic called for a fairer distribution of income for all players participating in the professional circuit.
Serbian star Novak Djokovic is aiming to claim his 25th career Grand Slam
Nick Kyrgios has also raised concerns about the issue, saying players were struggling to cope with the offer.
“The pie split between the governing bodies in the major sports, all the major American sports, like NFL, NBA, baseball, NHL, is maybe 50 percent more, some less, but about 50 percent,” Djokovic said in Brisbane.
‘Ours is much lower than that, it’s true. It’s obviously a very different sport because it’s international and played worldwide.
‘We are subject to different rules and regulations of different countries and legislations, taxes… each tournament independently regulates its own distribution of prize money.
‘Then you have ATP, WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and then Grand Slams, all separate entities that can do whatever they want.
“From that perspective, it’s quite fragmented. It’s not easy to get everyone in the same room and say, ‘Okay, let’s agree on a certain percentage.’