Australian Open offers record prize money – but stars still ‘disappointed’

Players are said to be disappointed that the Australian Open does not account for a greater portion of the Grand Slam’s total revenue, despite the fact that it will offer a record prize pot of £55m at this year’s tournament.

The largest player fund in the history of the tournament is A $111.5 million, which is a 16% increase over last year’s total prize money.

The singles champions will receive $4.15 million ($2.05 million), an increase of 19% over the sum of $ 2.05 million earned by 2025-winning Madison Keys and Jannik Sinner.

The season-opening Grand Slam will give a minimum 10% increase to all singles and doubles players.

According to Tennis Australia’s CEO, Craig Tiley, “This increase demonstrates our commitment to supporting tennis careers at every level.”

Following a group of elite players’ mounting pressure on the Grand Slam competitions in October due to increased prize money and player welfare, the move comes.

The top 20 men’s and women’s players ask the four majors for the entire field to receive a higher prize-to-revenue ratio, including Alexander Zverev, Aryna Sabalenka, and Sinner.

Additionally, the group wants more information on the structure of the sport, as well as more Grand Slam contributions to pension, healthcare, and maternity pensions.

The Australian Financial Review reported that Tennis Australia’s 2025 accounts, which were made public while the majority of its revenue was generated by the Australian Open, earned $ 697.2% (£ 346 million) in total revenue.

That figure would indicate that the organising body’s revenue for the Australian Open this year is roughly 16%.

The US Open gave the players 16% of its previous year’s revenue in 2025, while Wimbledon (13%) and the French Open (which does not release its data) both offered lower shares.

The top players have requested a staged increase for each Grand Slam over the next five years, which will eventually bring them to the 22% mark at some of the ATP and WTA combined tour competitions.

The Australian Open is now offering more than Wimbledon (53.5 million) and the French Open (47.5 million) did in 2025, despite still trailing the US Open (£67.4 million).