Tennis players look forward to Grand Slams, not just because of the prestige of performing well in them, but also the heavy payouts they provide. Considering that they are independent contractors, these tournaments pay more than many ATP and WTA Tour events combined, which is valuable for their survival in the game. The highest-paying Grand Slam and effectively, tournament in 2023 across the globe will be the US Open Championships which will begin in the end of August at Flushing Meadows, New York.
With the likes of Billie Jean King and Serena Williams fighting successfully over the years for equal prize money for women, the US Open last year announced a $2.6 million payout each for the winners of the men’s and women’s singles events respectively. A marginal increase is expected this year as an official announcement is awaited.
US Open 2023: How much prize money can players expect?
The US Open will be played across the men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles and wheelchair categories respectively. 2022 was a bumper year for players as partly thanks to the reduced impact of Covid-19, the organizers declared that the total prize money across categories will be a whopping $60.1 million! This year, that value has shot up to a record $65 million. No other Grand Slam has provided that amount till date.
Starting with the men’s singles, Carlos Alcaraz, the Wimbledon 2023 champion took home $2.6 million for winning the US Open 2022, which happens to be the first Grand Slam title win of his career. That was $100,000 more than what Daniil Medvedev earned after winning the US Open 2021 final in which he beat Novak Djokovic. It was a 4% increase, which was also the case in the women’s singles category as World No.1 Iga Swiatek bagged the same amount as Carlos Alcaraz.
Here is the prize money demarcation across each category for 2023 –
| Men’s and Women’s Singles Players | 2023 Prize Money Per Player |
|---|---|
| Winner | $3,000,000 |
| Finalist | $1,500,000 |
| Semifinalists | $775,000 |
| Quarterfinalists | $455,000 |
| Round of 16 | $284,000 |
| Round of 32 | $191,000 |
| Round of 64 | $123,000 |
| Round of 128 | $81,500 |
| Total | $44,700,000 |
When it comes to men’s and women’s doubles, the winning teams earned $688,000 in 2022, which was a 4.24% rise from 2021. In 2023, the winning teams will get $700,000 each. The runner up teams earned $344,000 in 2022, which was also a 4% rise. This year, it will be worth $350,000. In mixed doubles, the winners earned $163,000 while the runner up team took home $81,500. It has now increased to $170,000 while for the runners up, it will be $85,000.
Which Grand Slam offers the highest prize money?
The US Open is the correct answer to this as even in 2023, no other Grand Slam surpassed the figure of $65 million. The recent Wimbledon Championships came the closest, being ranked second at $56.6 million this year. However, thanks to the strength of the Pound Sterling, the men’s winner Carlos Alcaraz bagged $3.03 million for winning the tournament while Novak Djokovic took home $1.51 million, which individually makes it more lucrative for singles players if the total prize money is not considered.
Otherwise, the Australian Open offered a record total prize money of $55.9 million this year, out of which $2.17 million each were awarded to the men’s singles and women’s singles winners each respectively. The runners up took home $1.09 million.
Surprisingly, though not by much, the French Open has the lowest total prize money out of the 4 Grand Slams, at $55.5 million. But the singles winners were awarded money similar to the US Open at $2.5 million each respectively, while the finalists bagged $1.25 million.
