Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner arrive at the US Open final with more than a title at stake. Beyond the Grand Slam crown, the winner will vault past the $50m career prize-money mark and become only the sixth player in history to do so.

Prize money on the ATP Tour has climbed rapidly in recent years, and the US Open has led the increases this season. The tournament has boosted payouts across the board: the men’s and women’s singles runner-up prizes rose by 39% and beaten finalists are scheduled to receive $2.5m. The champion’s cheque of roughly $5m will push either Alcaraz or Sinner over the $50m threshold.

That potential milestone comes as the two highest-ranked players on the men’s side continue a dominant run. Between them they have claimed the last seven Grand Slam singles titles. The current leaders on the all-time prize-money list remain Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, with Andy Murray in fourth, but Alcaraz and Sinner are closing in fast.

Alcaraz has been candid about his priorities. “I love playing tennis. You know, most of the time I don’t think about the money,” said Alcaraz.

“I just play for love or for fun. But you have to be realistic. You have to think that you want to earn money, you know, and that’s it.

“The money in Saudi Arabia is the most, highest prize money ever in history, so that was a good motivation, at least for me.”

Off-court, Alcaraz’s earnings are supplemented by a string of long-standing sponsors including Nike, Rolex, BMW, Babolat, Calvin Klein, Evian and Louis Vuitton. Sinner also benefits from lucrative agreements with Nike, Gucci, Rolex, Lavazza and Head. The draft notes that Sinner served a three-month ban earlier this year after a positive drug test; his commercial deals were not affected.

Whoever lifts the trophy in New York will move up the historical earnings rankings and underline how rapidly prize-money benchmarks are changing in men’s tennis.

All-time prize money winners

1. Novak Djokovic, $188,934,053

2. Rafael Nadal $134,946,100

3. Roger Federer $130,594

4. Andy Murray $64,687,542

5. Alexander Zverev $54,455,659

6. Carlos Alcaraz $48,486,628

7. Daniil Medvedev $46,936,309

8. Jannik Sinner $46,279,987

9. Pete Sampras $43,280,489

10. Stan Wawrinka $37,634,708

The US Open final brings the matchup many expected before the tournament began: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz meeting for Grand Slam honours. It is the third consecutive major final between the two this season and the first time in the Open Era that the same pair have contested three major finals in a single season. The winner will extend an eight-event stretch in which every Grand Slam has been won by either Sinner or Alcaraz, leaving them three tournaments short of the Federer-Nadal duopoly record.

Beyond the title, the match is a straight shootout for the world No 1 ranking. Sinner, the defending champion, bids to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2008 to defend the US Open. Alcaraz aims to reclaim the trophy he first won in 2022.

Twelve months earlier their US Open fortunes were sharply different. Defying the then-emerging controversy of his failed drug tests from earlier in 2024, world No 1 Sinner stormed to his second major title and his first US Open, collecting 2,000 ranking points. Alcaraz, fresh from winning Wimbledon and the French Open that summer, was stunned in the second round by Botic van de Zandschulp and earned 50 points.

Alcaraz closed the gap on Sinner’s lead at the ATP 1000 event this summer, lifting the title after the Italian retired with illness in the final. That result moved Alcaraz to within 2,000 points of Sinner heading into the US Open and gave him a clear path back to No 1.

Accounting for points to defend from 2024, Alcaraz’s official total of 9,590 fell only to 9,550 once round-one points were guaranteed, while Sinner’s official 11,480 dropped to a live total of 9,490 after removing 1,990. A Sinner victory would leave him on 11,480 with Alcaraz on 10,840. An Alcaraz win would flip the positions: Alcaraz to 11,540 and Sinner to 10,780.

Sinner first reached No 1 in June 2024, replacing Novak Djokovic, and has not relinquished the spot since, accumulating 65 weeks at the top. Alcaraz has spent 36 weeks as world No 1, across four separate spells, and has not held the ranking since September 2023.

Carlos Alcaraz’s rapid ascent was built on natural talent and a family environment rooted in tennis. Tipped from a young age to be a special player, he made his ATP Tour main draw debut at 16 in February 2020 and captured his maiden singles title the following year. The 2022 campaign announced him to the world: four titles in the first half of the season, including two ATP Masters 1000 trophies, and a first Grand Slam at the US Open in September. On the back of that success he became the first teenager to top the ATP Rankings and the youngest player to finish the year as world No 1.

Born on 5 May 2003 in El Palmar, Murcia, Spain, Alcaraz is the son of Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez and Virginia Garfia Escandon and has three brothers: an older brother, Alvaro, and two younger brothers, Sergio and Jaime. His father is a former professional player who reached a career-high of No 963 in 1990 and later worked as a tennis academy director at the Real Sociedad Club de Campo de Murcia. Young Carlos began playing at that same club “as soon as he could hold a racket.” One of his early coaches recalled that even at four or five years old he showed extraordinary promise: “He began to play with his dad, and one day [his father] asked me to watch him. This kid, at four, five years old, was spectacular,” Kiko Navarro, one of Alcaraz Jr’s early coaches, told the Guardian. “I knew from very young that he was incredible. I’m not going to say that I was thinking he was going to be world No 1 but I knew that I had a really good and different player on my hands.”

Carlos Alcaraz Gonzalez has run the Carlos Alcaraz Tennis Academy by Reina at the Tiro de Pichón for nearly three decades and has become a major sponsor since his son’s rise. Virginia Garfia has generally kept a low profile but has attended several high-profile matches, including the 2024 US Open final win over Casper Ruud, the 2024 French Open victory over Alexander Zverev and the Wimbledon title runs in 2023 and 2024; she was notably seen celebrating after the 2023 semi-final win over Daniil Medvedev. In a 2022 interview Carlos said: “Obviously, my parents control the money for me. To buy some golf clubs, which I love; I don’t ask permission, but for a good car, yes. I’m still fighting it.
“My father is tougher and my mother less, so to go out and those things I tell my mother. I don’t have time as such, but they always tell me ‘don’t be late’. As much as I try not to make any noise when I get home, they always wake up and catch me.” In the Netflix documentary Carlos Alcaraz: My Way, released in early 2025, he revealed he still lives with his parents and that his mother’s cooking is “another reason why I like to be at home”. His brother Alcaro added: “He really is a family guy. he loved being with his childhood friends at the party because it’s when he’s the most relaxed and can really be himself.
“Please know that no matter how famous you decide you want to be, that you’ll always be my little brother and I’ll slap you over the head if you get all full of yourself.”