With the tournament at its business end, some of the most elite names in tennis will fight it out to grab the biggest chunks of the Australian Open 2024 prize money pool. Grand Slam events offer the biggest payouts on the calendar and everyone will hope to get their hands on the big prize.
One semi-final fixture is already confirmed in men’s and women’s singles each. 10-time champion Novak Djokovic faces Jannik Sinner in the first men’s singles semi-final. Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka will battle it out with Coco Gauff for a spot in the women’s singles final. The remaining quarter-finals on both sides are scheduled for Wednesday, January 24 early morning ET.
Djokovic, Sinner, Sabalenka, and Gauff have guaranteed themselves at least A$990,000 ($669,735) after making it to the final four. Players who go out in the semi-finals will take home this handsome amount. Quarter-finalists will make A$600,000 ($405,900) this year, which is the amount that the likes of Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev, Barbora Krejcikova and Marta Kostyuk have already earned following their exits on Tuesday.
The Australian Open 2024 prize money crosses the million-dollar USD mark for finalists. The runner-up will receive A$1,725,000 ($1,166,963), over 6% more than last year. 2023 finalists Stefanos Tsitsipas and Elena Rybakina had earned A$1,625,000 ($1,091,496) for their efforts. This year’s champion in Melbourne is set to rake in A$3,150,000 ($2,130,975), an increase of 5.8% from 2023.
Overall, the Australian Open 2024 prize money pool is A$86.5 million ($56.82 million USD), accounting for all categories. This is a sizeable increment of 13% over last year’s cumulative tally of A$76,500,000 ($50 million USD approximately). The Grand Slams remain the only tournaments on the schedule to offer equal prize money to WTA and ATP players. Defending singles champions Djokovic and Sabalenka will fancy their chances of securing a bumper paycheck for the second year in a row.
Australian Open 2024 prize money full breakdown; bumper amounts from qualifiers welcomed by lower-ranked players
The Grand Slams are the richest events on the ATP and WTA calendars. Even the qualifying rounds have decent sums on offer, which prove to be significant for lower-ranked players. The Australian Open 2024 prize money amount for qualifiers ranged from over $20,000 for the first round to nearly $45,000 for the third.
Making it to the main draw gives a huge financial boost to such athletes, even if they go out in the first round. For instance, Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal revealed his money problems not too long ago, claiming he had only €900 (about $975) in his account in 2023 (Reuters). However, coming through the qualifiers and going till the second round, he earned A$180,000 ($121,770), undoubtedly a welcome respite.
A first-round main draw exit at the Australian Open 2024 was worth A$120,000 ($81,180). Nagal’s aforementioned winnings were for second-round exits. If he had defeated Shang Juncheng and advanced to the third round, he would have earned a cool A$255,000 ($172,508). Players like Alex de Minaur and Stefanos Tsitsipas, who went out in the fourth round, took home A$375,000 ($253,688). All these amounts are at least a 10% increase from last year’s edition.
