Why Carlos Alcaraz could lose nearly half of his $5million US Open 2025 prize money

Carlos Alcaraz clinched a mega prize money of $5 million after beating Jannik Sinner in the US Open 2025 final on Sunday, but his actual in-hand reward could be just $2.5 million. The US Open organisers announced before the tournament began that the overall prize money pool for the 2025 edition was hiked by 20% as compared to the 2024 tournament.

While the total pool was raised to a whopping $90 million as compared to $75 million in 2024, the prize money for the men’s and women’s singles title winners was increased to $5 million each. The 2024 winners received $3.6 million.

Both the overall prize money pool and the winner’s rewards at the US Open 2025 are the highest among all four Grand Slams. And Alcaraz captured the biggest individual prize money reward in tennis by beating Italian star Sinner 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Alcaraz could lose half of US Open 2025 prize money

However, Alcaraz is set to lose almost half of the $5 million reward due to the local tax laws in the USA and New York. According to a report in the Daily Express, Alcaraz now fits into the highest federal income tax bracket of 37% in the USA, which is levied over income above $609,351. As a result, $1.7 million will be deducted from the prize money in federal taxes before he leaves the country.

Alcaraz will also have to pay a New York state tax of 9.65% on income between $1.08 million and $5 million. As a result, Alcaraz’s take-home prize money would be somewhere closer to $2.5 million. It would be the same for Aryna Sabalenka, who won the women’s title.

Alcaraz’s real income may even be less if we factor in the money he has spent on staying in New York for the tournament and the payment he has to make to his coaches, physiotherapists and for the travel.

However, it shouldn’t matter, as just at the age of 22, Alcaraz has already captured six Grand Slams, and leads 10-5 against his closest competitor, Sinner. It only shows that the Spaniard is set to win many more tournaments and should continue earning big rewards.