Carlos Alcaraz & Jasmine Paolini's massive pay gap for Italian Open title called out by fans: "Blatant sexism"

Carlos Alcaraz and Jasmine Paolini secured dominant victories in the men's and women's singles events, respectively, at the 2025 Italian Open. However, the disparities in their prize money amounts left many tennis fans baffled.

The tournament officials had made an announcement in 2023 that three years from then, they would be making the tournament an equal pay event. However, it was later revealed that they haven't been able to achieve that, as they announced that Alcaraz will receive €985,030 (approx. $1,108,144) and Paolini will receive €877,390 (approx. $987,050) as prize money for their wins.

Fans took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their grief on the matter, explaining how no matter how hard women work to get on the same level as men, the pay gap remains prevalent.

Some also tried to rationalize that matter, stating that the pay also depends on viewership, which was generated more at the Masters event as compared to its WTA counterpart, leading to the difference in pay, while others condemned the act.

Here are some of the fan reactions:

"When will this discrimination end? Are we not ashamed yet, of this blatant sexism?" condemned a fan.

"Tennis is the sport with the smaller difference in prize money between men and women. I wouldn't complain," said another.

"I mean what it takes for a change to happen im really wondering! Why everyone is silent?! I hope @DjokerNole will have to be the one to use his platform to talk and action this," a fan opined.

"i know it's a bummer but we can't deny that men's tennis has more attendees/audiences than the women's. i think it's numbers for numbers," stated another user.

"It’s shameful. Women work equally as hard as men. The pay scale is whacked. Oh I know y’all are going to say well the women don’t draw crowds like men. This may be true however they are doing the same work! This is the JOB they chose so equal pay for equal work," said another.

"Carlos Alcaraz generates double income than Jasmine so it's quite unfair that payment, Paolini should receive the half," critiqued a user.

The disparity in pay was seen in all the rounds of the Italian Open.

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What Italian Open organizers said in 2023 about equal pay

Jasmine Paolini at the 2025 Italian Open - Image Source: Getty

The Italian Tennis Federation's president, Angelo Binaghi, revealed in 2023 that an investment from the first female CEO of a big bang has allowed them to pave the way for equal pay in the Italian Open, starting in 2025.

“For the first time in history, we have started the process that over three years will lead to equal prize money between the women’s and the men’s tournaments. We’re talking about 8 million euros (nearly $9 million) for each event,” he told the media.

WTA also released a statement on this announcement, but as of this edition, the tournament was unable to achieve the remarkable feat.