Sixty-four men and 64 women will lose in the first round of the U.S. Open. For many of them, it will still be their richest payday of the year.
Players who lose in the first round of the U.S. Open singles draws earn $110,000 for their participation. That number is nearly triple the $39,500 awarded in 2015 and more than seven times the $15,000 from 2005. The six-figure first-round payout still pales in comparison to the $5 million winner’s prize, but it has increased at a faster rate than the later-round prizes over the past several decades.
The Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon also awarded at least $80,000 each for first-round losses this year. For context, that’s more than double the $36,300 payout for winning the 2025 Tennis in the Land, a WTA 250 event that runs the week before the U.S. Open in Cleveland and this year featured nine players ranked in the world’s top 50.
For players outside the top 50, who sometimes don’t automatically qualify for Tour-level events, Grand Slam losses present a more financially lucrative opportunity than winning tournaments.
“The Grand Slams are the places where, as a player not ranked super high, you get most of the money during the year,” former top-50 player Maximilian Marterer said last year. “It’s obviously something that gives the guys a little safety in order to pay their bills for the coaches, for the flights.”
Australia’s No. 79-ranked Chris O’Connell, for instance, has made $727,000 in prize money this season. He lost in the first round of the first three majors and faces 11-to-1 odds in his first-round matchup with Alex de Minaur at the U.S. Open. Yet he has still made $370,000 from the four Grand Slams, accounting for more than 50% of his earnings for the year. They are easily his four highest hauls from any events this season.
Earlier in his career, O’Connell cleaned boats and worked in retail to sustain himself financially, a story familiar to many lower-ranked players. Between travel, coaching, lodging and equipment, tennis expenses can pile up quickly.
The first-round prize money at the Grand Slams is so significant that a rule is in place to disincentivize injured players from competing while physically compromised just to pocket the cash. Players who withdraw from a major earn 50% of the first-round prize money as long as they are declared unfit to play by a tournament doctor, the withdrawal occurs after the Tuesday before the tournament, and they have played an event in the previous 21 days.
The hard work that tennis players put in during smaller tournaments throughout the calendar pays off when they accumulate enough ranking points to qualify for Grand Slams and earn large paychecks, regardless of their on-court results. The top 104 singles players in the rankings get automatic entry into the four slams.
Eight wild cards, however, are also given out for each major tournament. Those often go to young, up-and-coming players from the host country for whom the first-round prize money is a huge career boost.
“When you’re playing Futures and Challengers, you’re not making too much money, so it’s hard to invest in yourself, and maybe you’re a little bit worried about making sure you don’t run out of funds,” Rinky Hijikata said in 2023, when he received a U.S. Open wild card at age 22.
Not all athletes can accept their six-figure paycheck, however. The NCAA still prohibits college athletes from receiving professional prize money exceeding actual and necessary expenses from the event. Stanford sophomore Valerie Glozman, who got a wild card into the 2025 U.S. Open main draw this year, would lose her college eligibility if she accepted the $110,000.
For everyone else, though, winning a first-round match on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday would mean an additional $44,000 for making the second round.