Earlier in January, before the start of the season’s first major, Australian Open tennis officials had announced an increase in prize money by 13 percent.
Aryna Sabalenka continued to be an irrepressible force at Melbourne Park as she decimated Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen on Saturday at the Rod Laver Arena with a 6-3 6-2 victory to successfully retain her Australian Open title and added a second Grand Slam trophy to her cabinet. The Belarusian barely erred in the match en route to becoming the first woman to retain the Melbourne Park crown since compatriot Victoria Azarenka in 2013.
Sabalenka secured an early break in the opening set before denying three break points to take a 3-0 lead. Zheng delivered more first-serves in the first set than she managed in her previous six matches, but failed to gain a foothold against the rampaging Belarusian who unleashed monster groundstrokes to take a one-set lead. The No. 12 seed was broken yet again, early, in the second set, as Sabalenka raced to a 4-1 lead before the eventual champion converted on her fifth championship point.
With the win, Sabalenka will leave Australia with prize money of AUD 3,150,000 and 2,000 points, while Zheng pocketed AUD 1,750,000 and 1,300 points, following her best-ever Grand Slam show. In 2023, Sabalenka’s prize money was 76.5 million AUD.
Earlier in January, before the start of the season’s first major, Australian Open tennis officials had announced an increase in prize money by 10 million AUD. Tournament director Craig Tiley revealed that the Grand Slam tournament will now offer 86.5 AUD in total prize money, 13 percent more than what was given in 2023.
“We’ve upped prize money for every round at the Australian Open with the major increases in qualifying and the early rounds of singles and doubles,” Tiley had said. “We want to ensure Australia remains the launchpad for the global tennis season and the players and their teams have everything they need to help them perform at their best and continue to enjoy the Happy Slam.”
Australian Open’s prize money pool is now the second-largest among the four Grand Slams, standing behind the US Open, which increased to 96.271 million AUD last August. Wimbledon stands next on the list with prize money of 84.198 million AUD, followed by French Open (80.564 million AUD).
