If Coco Gauff successfully defends her US Open title, she’ll earn the same amount as Carlos Alcaraz if he does the same. While all Grand Slam tournaments now offer equal prize money, many other events on the women’s tour still lag far behind.
It has been 51 years since tennis icon Billie Jean King championed equal pay at the US Open, making it the first major sporting event to offer equal prize money for women and men. In 2024, the New York City tournament continues to uphold this standard, with the total prize pool set at a record $75 million, to be evenly distributed between male and female players.
If Gauff repeats as champion, she will take home $3.6 million (€3.2 million), the same amount that Alcaraz will earn if he defends his title. Even the 64 players who lose in the first round, regardless of gender, will pocket $100,000 each. This is a significant leap from 1972 when Billie Jean King earned $10,000 for winning the US Open, while her male counterpart, Ilie Nastase, received $25,000.
Equal pay at the US Open was implemented in 1973, a year after King threatened to boycott the tournament if the pay gap wasn’t closed. This historic move made the US Open the first event in professional sports to offer equal payouts for male and female athletes.
It took nearly three decades for other major tournaments to follow suit. The Australian Open adopted equal pay in 2001, and the French Open and Wimbledon did the same in 2007. Today, all four Grand Slam events offer prize money parity.
However, the pay gap persists at other stops on the tennis tour. For example, at the recent Cincinnati Open, Jannik Sinner, the men’s champion, earned $1,049,460, while Aryna Sabalenka, the women’s champion, took home $523,485—nearly half of Sinner’s prize.
Jannik Sinner will receive $1,049,460 for winning the ATP1000 event in Cincinnati
Aryna Sabalenka will receive $523,485 for winning the WTA1000 event in Cincinnati
They played at the same venue all week
They played best of 3 sets all week
They will NOT get paid the same pic.twitter.com/QT2IjZMs5a— Myles David (@TunedIntoTennis) August 20, 2024
Coco Gauff, last year’s Cincinnati winner, highlighted the issue, stating, “It needs to be improved. My matches were more crowded or the same as some of the top seeds on the men’s side, so I don’t think it’s an attraction issue.”
Sports economist Simon Chadwick echoed Gauff’s sentiments, emphasizing that the outdated attitudes within tennis governing bodies are no excuse for perpetuating inequality. “Now is the time for root-and-branch reform of the economic injustices that female tennis players face,” Chadwick said, calling for fundamental changes in how the sport is governed and commercialized.
Despite the progress made, some tournaments remain slow to adopt equal pay. The Italian Open, for example, still has a significant pay gap, with the women’s winner receiving €699,690 in 2024 compared to the men’s winner’s €963,225. The Canadian Open displays a similar disparity, with the women’s champion earning $523,485, while the men’s winner takes home $1,049,460.
In response to criticism, the Italian Open has promised to achieve pay parity by 2025. However, star player Ons Jabeur questioned why it should take so long, stating, “It’s time for change. It’s time for the tournament to do better.”
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has acknowledged the issue and laid out a timeline for achieving pay equity with the men’s tour. The WTA aims to have equal prize money at all top-level WTA 1000 and WTA 500 events by 2027, with less prominent events reaching parity by 2033.
While women’s tennis is already ahead of most other women’s sports in terms of pay, true pay equity remains a distant goal. The 2023 Forbes list of the highest-paid female athletes featured eight tennis players in the top ten, underscoring the strides the sport has made.
Billie Jean King’s relentless fight for equality laid the groundwork for these advancements. Last year, as Coco Gauff held her US Open championship trophy and saw the $3,000,000 check, she thanked King for her efforts.
Coco gave the shoutout to @BillieJeanKing for that equal prize money 🗣 pic.twitter.com/J0WA4b1lt5
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2023
But as Gauff and others know, the battle for equality in tennis is far from over.
