With the Australian Open on soon, we take a look at exactly what’s at stake here, beyond the silverware and the international glory. That’s right, it’s the thing, every year, we’re really here for: cold hard cash.
The Australian Open, like all grand slams, offers some eye watering amounts of money for a win, on top of qualification prizes through the rounds. There’s a total of $75 million being dished out in cash prizes this year, with an additional $4.5 million added to the pool after 2021’s COVID dip. This top up sees the Australian Open maintaining its status as the largest prize pool of the big four competitions.
This is exactly how much each of the competitors stood to win in 2022.
Men’s and Women’s Singles Prize Money
The prize money this year for a win in the singles — both men’s and women’s — was a whopping $2.875 million. This was up from 2021’s top prize of $2.75 million.
Runner ups received $1.575 million, an increase of $75,000 on 2021
Semi-finalists scored $895,000, quarter-finalists $538,500, fourth round finishers $328,000, third round winner $221,000, second round winner $154,000, and first round winners $103,000.
Those who qualified for the first, second, and third rounds also received between $53,500 and $25,250.
Unlike many other sports, tennis is a rare example where equality across the genders has long been seen in prize money wins. However, this wasn’t always the case.
The US Open was the first major tournament to offer the same cash prize for a women’s win as a men’s. In 1972, women’s champion Billie Jean King was awarded just US $10,000 for her victory, compared to $25,000 for the same achievement for her male counterpart. King threatened a boycott of the tournament, resulting in equal prize money for both genders the following year.
While the Australian open did offer equal prize money during the mid 80s and early 90s, that declined in the following years. It wasn’t until 2001 that Tennis Australia officially committed to equal prizes for men and women.
That’s at least a little better than the French Open, who didn’t do the same until 2006. Wimbledon was the last to join the big four, with a bit of a nudge from Venus Williams, finally offering equal prize money in 2007.
Doubles Prize Money
Prize money for a doubles win has historically always been much lower than for a singles. This is partially down to the drawing power of doubles not being as commercially viable for sponsors and audience, as well as the industry push to keep singles showdowns as the pinnacle of the game.
As such, the winners of the men’s and women’s doubles shared a prize of $675,000. Runners up got $360,000, while semi-finalists saw $205,000 and quarter-finalists $113,000.
Third round winners got $65,250, second round $45,100, and first round $30,050.
Winners in the doubles scored a total of $200,000 extra in 2022, however those who finished earlier got less than they would have last year.
For the mixed doubles, it’s a similar story. Although the prizes are much smaller overall, winners got an additional $40,000 over last year’s prize money.
Mixed doubles winners split a $150,000 prize, with the runners up sharing $85,000. Semi-finalists got $45,00, while quarter-finalists got $24,000. Second round players saw $12,000 while first rounders got $6,250.
Wheelchair Prize Money
The figures for the wheelchair grand slam don’t appear to have been released this year. Never fear though, as The Latch has gone to the source to get the figures from Tennis Australia.
The figures are the same for the men’s, the women’s, and the Quad Wheelchair draws.
For the singles, winners could expect $69,057, while runner-ups got $24,530. Semi-finalists received $25,895 and quarter-finalists $18,700.
In the doubles, each pair received $25,895 for a win, $11,510 for a second place finish, and $10,070 for a semi-final place.
The total prize money pool for all wheelchair events in 2022 was $863,166. By comparison, that total was slightly less than the amount one semi-finalist would receive in the able-bodies singles.
Quad runner-up and newly minted Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott, said earlier this year that the difference in prize money was just not good enough.
“I won the lead-in tournament here and it was like $1,300,” he said. “How much is a flight from Europe, $3,000? It’s not just Australia, it’s all around the world. We don’t get $3.5 million for winning.
“People think we’re lucky to be here — get stuffed. We deserve to be here. We’re selling tickets, sponsors are making money, and people are loving it. So, start thinking like that and then it will all change. That’s what I was lucky enough to do.”
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