Anyone for tennis?

Anyone For Tennis.      Well, who would not be for tennis?               The winners of this years’ Australian Open, Elena Rybakina and Carlos Alacarz (at right and left ) each took home $4.15 million dollars. In a resounding rebuke to the fellow who said, “There is no prize for second,” the Runners Up, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka each took home $2.15 million. These four brilliant tennis players collectively walked away with $12.6 million after each had played  seven games of tennis spread over two weeks. Actually, Djokovic only played five and a half games as he won on a forfeit in round four and in Round Five,  his opponent retired injured while leading by two sets to love.                           

Kimberley Inglis, (pictured left) the Western Australian who surprise everyone with her court craft, won $450 000 for making it to the 4^th Round. She also picked up $22 000 as her share of losing the First Round of the Ladies’ Doubles. Her fiancée, Mark Polmans  collected $242 000 as his share for Runner Up in the Men’s Doubles. Polmans also collected $40 000 for losing the First Qualifying Round in the week prior to the Australian Open. So, this young couple walked away  from the Rod Laver Arena with  a combined bankroll of $824 000. This should ensure the couple can spend the next 12 months playing on the international circuit and at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows.

Millions of tennis lovers around the world enjoyed watching the Australian Tennis Open earlier this year. The Australian Open pays about a $1 million  less to the ultimate winners than the English/Wimbledon and US Open. However, it is certainly much more generous and supportive of the lower ranked players. For instance, if you were one of the 64 players who lost the first-round match at  Rod Laver  Arena this year you would have collected $150 000. If you made it into the second round and lost, you would have been one of the 32 players who each collected $225 000. These figures are on a par with the US Open but are about 10% higher than what was paid in 2025 at Wimbledon (England)  or Roland Garros (France).

The Australian Open has rapidly increased its overall total prize pool in recent years. In 2002 the total prize pool was $16.5 million. In 2020 it had grown by 23% to $71 million. Since then, it has increased by a whopping 64% and the total prize pool for 2026 was $111.5 million.

The England and US Opens will always be richer than the Australian Open because they attract much larger crowds, collect  huge television revenues and have many more and far richer commercial sponsors. However, The Australia Open, in true blue Aussie style, has made a conscious decision to not pay the major winners as much as the other Grand Slam countries in order  to support the lower ranked players. It does this by  awarding attractive payouts to the losers  in the early rounds.

This is similar to what happened in Australian cricket in the player pay negotiations in the early 2000s. Though the top Australia cricketers still received  very high remuneration, the underlying philosophy of the negotiations between Cricket Australia and the Players’ Association was of supporting the broader playing base rather than maximising the very top. This provided more money for week-end  grade cricketers and for developing junior cricket Australia wide. 

It makes you proud to be an Aussie. And it makes sense. You cannot win a Wimbledon final unless there are competitors for the champion to beast. Champions need a variety of opponents who can afford to travel with their manager, coach, physiotherapist  to  compete for the title. Similarly, you cannot play winning test cricket if the supply of talented youngsters has dried up because their junior associations all withered  on the vine of poverty.

Hmmm. $150 grand for losing the in the first round of the Open . I might go and dig out my battered old tennis racquet and hit the practice courts.                                                                                                     I can lose with the best of them!