US Open prize money 2026: what every round pays

The 2026 US Open offers $108 million in player compensation, and the women's and men's singles champions each earn $5,500,000. The United States Tennis Association announced the package on 20 August 2026 as the largest in tennis history: a 20 per cent increase on the $90 million of 2025, the second 20 per cent rise in a row, and 44 per cent more than two years ago. The $108 million includes prize money in every event plus a new Player Support Program seeded with $2 million. All figures on this page are in US dollars and identical for women and men.

How much does the US Open champion earn?

$5.5 million, which the USTA calls the highest champion's prize for any tennis event. The runner-up earns $2.8 million. A first-round loser in the main draw takes $140,000, up 27 per cent and, according to the USTA, the highest first-round payment in Grand Slam history; a first-round loser in qualifying takes $32,000, up 16 per cent. The USTA's release names those headline figures. The round-by-round table below follows the breakdown published by the ATP on the same day, with the change against the 2025 figures calculated by FifthSet.

The shape is deliberate. The USTA says players in every round receive significant increases, but the percentages fall as the rounds advance: a first-round loser gains 27 per cent, the champion 10 per cent. The association says the package is meant for all players who compete at the US Open, "especially emerging and lower-ranked competitors".

Doubles

The men's, women's and mixed doubles champions each win $1,000,000 per team, the same as in 2025. In men's and women's doubles the ATP's breakdown lists $500,000 for the runners-up, $250,000 for semi-finalists, $125,000 for quarter-finalists, $80,000 for the third round, $50,000 for the second and $35,000 for a first-round exit. The USTA's release does not publish a mixed doubles table beyond the champions' figure.

Who banked what

The two champions' cheques of $5,500,000 went to Elena Rybakina, who beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the women's final on 12 September, and Alexander Zverev, who beat Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 6-2 on 13 September. Sabalenka and Shelton take the runner-up's $2,800,000 each. The four beaten semi-finalists, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff in the women's draw, Karen Khachanov and Frances Tiafoe in the men's, leave with $1,450,000; the semifinal results are on Wikipedia's men's and women's draw pages. A quarter-final exit, Carlos Alcaraz's among them, was worth $780,000, and every player who reached the fourth round earned at least $480,000. In men's doubles, Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski beat Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) for the $1,000,000 team prize; the German pair share the $500,000 for the runners-up.

The Player Support Program

The $108 million is not all prize money. The US Open is the first Grand Slam tournament to set up a Player Support Program, seeded with $2 million in 2026 and split equally between women and men. The money sits in escrow until the details are settled with the new Grand Slam Player Council, which the four majors announced the same day. The USTA says the programme will complement existing pension funds with benefits for mid-career life events and retirement, and that eligibility will be defined simply, without ranking tiers, for main-draw singles and doubles players. The announcement came in a season of friction between players and the tournament, including the late finishes of the night sessions on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Prize money and ranking points

Money and points follow different curves. A Grand Slam title is worth 2,000 ATP ranking points, the maximum for any tournament, according to the ATP's points breakdown: 1,300 for the finalist, 800 for a semi-final, 400 for a quarter-final, 200 for the fourth round, 100 for the third, 50 for the second and 10 for a first-round loss. A qualifier who comes through the three qualifying rounds collects 30 points before the main draw begins. In money terms, a first-round loser earns 2.5 per cent of the champion's cheque; in points, 0.5 per cent. An undefeated champion at the ATP Finals earns 1,500 points, a Masters 1000 winner 1,000.

What the champion keeps

The cheque is gross. The Internal Revenue Service states that nonresident athletes performing in the United States generally owe US income tax on their US-source income, including compensation for performances and other income closely related to the event, and must file a US return; payments to them are subject to special withholding rules, and a Central Withholding Agreement can bring the amount withheld closer to the tax actually due, according to the IRS page on foreign athletes. Coaching, travel and accommodation are paid from the same gross figure. No official source publishes what a typical player nets, so this page does not estimate it.

The other majors

The US Open remains the richest of the four. Wimbledon paid £64.2 million with £3.6 million to each singles champion, the Australian Open A$111.5 million with A$4.15 million, and Roland-Garros €61.723 million with €2.8 million. The currencies differ, and this page does not convert them.

The pool and the champion's cheque also sit in the prize-money table of our US Open tournament page, next to the roll of honour.

This page is refreshed when the USTA announces the prize money for the 2027 US Open.