Carlos Alcaraz to lose nearly HALF of record-breaking £3.7m US Open prize money

Carlos Alcaraz won a record-breaking prize pot for his US Open triumph, but the Spaniard will take home less than half of the £3.7m on offer to the men’s singles champion

Carlos Alcaraz will only be taking home about half of his prize money after defeating Jannik Sinner in the US Open final to win the biggest prize in tennis history. The 22-year-old beat Sinner for the fourth time in five meetings so far in 2025 to collect the £3.7million ($5million) reward.

This year’s US Open prize is the most any major has offered to date. That’s after the United States Tennis Association (USTA) confirmed its decision to increase the singles champions’ payout to £3.7m, a whopping 38.89% rise from last year’s offering.

Aryna Sabalenka became the first to claim this nine-figure sum on Saturday after she triumphed over Amanda Anisimova in the women’s final. Alcaraz followed suit 24 hours later, besting Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a final where President Donald Trump appeared to fall asleep mid-match.

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However, the Daily Express reported a significant portion of Alcaraz’s winnings will go straight back to the US authorities. Athletes are subject to tax laws in the jurisdictions where they earn their income.

Alcaraz falls into the highest bracket of federal income tax in the United States. With earnings well above the upper threshold of £451,000 ($609,351), he’s subject to a tax rate of 37%.

This means he’ll be paying around £1.37m in tax before he even leaves the country, leaving him with £2.33m in earnings. However, the financial hit could be even worse if he is expected to pay state tax in New York, which boasts one of the highest personal tax rates in the US.

The state income tax for earnings between $1.08m and $5m in New York is 9.65%. The tiered system means this rate would only apply to earnings within that range, but it potentially leaves Alcaraz with closer to £2m as his take-home figure.

That’s without factoring in the usual expenses like paying his manager, coaches, accommodation and travel. The only silver lining is a double taxation treaty between Spain and the United States will prevent the youngster being penalised again in his homeland.

Alcaraz has won 10 of his 15 meetings with Sinner to date and has developed a dominant streak in their rivalry of late. In fact, the Italian has managed to win just one of their last eight encounters, beating his nemesis to the Wimbledon title earlier this summer.

The Spanish superstar has raked in a little more than £11.5m in on-court earnings so far in 2025. He got his hands on a second straight French Open crown back in June, matching 2024 as his most prolific campaign to date after picking up a second Slam title this calendar year.

In the seven years since turning professional back in 2018, Alcaraz has accumulated career winnings of approximately £40m in ATP competitions. And he’s on track to rival Novak Djokoivc as the all-time money list leader, though he still has a way to go to match the Serb’s £140m earnings to date.

Alcaraz’s final opportunity to bag a similar prize pot will be at the ATP Finals in Turin. Last year, Sinner pocketed a cool £1.7m for clinching the end-of-year singles title, with the tournament due to kick off again in mid-November.