Aside from the glory, records, laurels, and fame, Grand Slam victories are also about the prize money. With prize pools soaring and reaching all-time highs, the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) has posted a record prize pool of £53,500,000 for the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, with the gentlemen's and ladies' singles winners set to take home a whopping £3,000,000 each.
Tennis players can usually expect to receive their prize money from the tournament organizer within 7-10 days of its conclusion. The payment is usually in the form of a wire transfer and is wired post-tax deduction, as tennis players are required to pay tax in the country where they played the tournament, not in their home country.
Carlos Alcaraz's remarkable victory at the 2025 French Open final, where he came back from two sets down to beat Jannik Sinner, saw him pocket $2.9 million for his exploits in Paris. However, to everyone's surprise, the Spaniard managed to take home just above half his winnings due to stringent tax laws.
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The rule for prize money in tennis tournaments across the world is that you will be taxed on your winnings in the country where you are playing, but later you will not be taxed in your home country upon your return.
This meant that, due to French taxation policy, Carlos Alcaraz had to pay as much as 46% of his total winnings, resulting in his check coming to only half of what it previously was, at $1,624,000. As reported in elEconomista.es, the Spaniard would have had to pay around 46% in tax to the Treasury. The news was formally announced on El Economista's X account.
"Carlos Alcaraz's 46% of Roland Garros prize money is lost: the Treasury takes more than €1.18 million."
Jannik Sinner, too, would have earned right around half of his stipulated €1.28 million (£1.07 million) prize following his loss to his opponent in the Roland Garros final.
TENNISMEDIA was quoted explaining that tennis players were taxed based on the country where the money was earned, not the respective player's home nation. This has been the standard policy for tennis professionals over the years.
"Sinner, who finished as the runner-up, will face the same tax deduction on his €1.28 million (£1.07 million) prize. Tennis players are taxed based on the location where prize money is earned, and they are not required to pay income tax again in their home countries for those particular earnings."
British No.1, Emma Raducanu, who lost to World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in their third-round encounter at SW19, will suffer a worse fate owing to her being a citizen of Great Britain as well.
The young Brit who earned herself £152k with her third-round run at the All England Championships will take home close to half of her winnings. After losing in straight sets to the World No.1, Raducanu will have to pay a tax liability as a UK citizen of close to £68,400 or 45 per cent of her earnings.
"Assuming that Emma is an additional rate taxpayer (with other income over £125,140), the tax rate that will apply to the prize money will be 45 per cent resulting in a UK tax liability of £68,400. She is also likely to have Class Four National Insurance to pay at two per cent on this income resulting in a National Insurance liability of £3,040. Therefore, her take home pay after tax and NIC would be £80,560." (via Mirror)
These figures are before personal expenses such as travel, accommodation, and coaching fees, so we must account for that too.
Carlos Alcaraz on the verge of historic hat-trick at Wimbledon
World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz progressed to the semifinals of the All England Championships 2025 after beating the last British player standing in the tournament, Cameron Norrie, in straight sets to book a semifinal matchup against World No. 5 Taylor Fritz.
The Spaniard has won the last two editions of Wimbledon and is unbeaten at the All England Club since last losing to Jannik Sinner in 2023. Carlos Alcaraz has only dropped four sets in the entire tournament so far, and will look to carry that momentum in a push for his third successful Wimbledon win on the trot.
Carlos Alcaraz can become only the fifth player in the Open Era to perform a hat-trick of victories in the gentlemen's singles draw at Wimbledon after Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic. The record for the longest run of consecutive titles remains with Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer at five on the trot each.
