One of the greatest accomplishments in tennis, Jannik Sinner won last month at the Miami Open and earned its highest accolade – but former American star John Isner expressed displeasure with the prize money awarded, calling it an embarrassment to sport.
Sinner delivered an impressive display throughout the Miami Open, not dropping a set in six matches and defeating Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-4 in the final to claim his second Masters 1000 championship of 2018. Isner noted that prize money at previous Miami Open winners has decreased over time despite its reputation of generous payouts.
“At the Masters 1000 events, the winner’s check has gone down. When I won Miami in 2018, I earned more money for winning the title than Sinner did this year in 2026,” Isner stated in a recent episode of Nothing Major Show. “They have spread the prize money out, and there is more total prize money. But the winner’s share was $200,000 less, give or take, in 2026 than it was in 2018. That’s insane. It’s absurd. No sport in the world has that going on right now. It’s ridiculous.”
Isner argued that although the total prize pool at the tournament has increased significantly, the winner’s share has actually declined. Reviewing the numbers backs up his claim, as he received $1,340,860 for his Miami victory in 2018—more than what Sinner earned this year.
Similarly, at the BNP Paribas Open, Sinner received $1,151,380 for his championship, which is noticeably less than the amount Isner earned in 2018. This trend of increasing overall prize pools but decreasing winner payouts has been observed in other major tournaments such as the Indian Wells Open, Madrid Open, Shanghai Masters, and Paris Masters. Several former players have criticized this distribution approach.
Tennis Players Push for Higher Grand Slam Prize Money
In April 2025, a group comprising the top 10 ranked ATP and WTA players collectively signed a letter requesting the four Grand Slam organizers to increase prize money shares and sought meetings to discuss the issue. When their initial requests were ignored, they sent another letter in September supported by prominent names including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and Jessica Pegula.
“We want more money; they, maybe, don’t want to give us as much money when we talk about the prize money,” Djokovic stated ahead of the 2025 Australian Open.
Response from Tennis Authorities
ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi acknowledged the players’ concerns, admitting that the current tennis prize system has several flaws due to its complex structure involving the four Grand Slams, ATP, WTA, and ITF.
Following these discussions, the Australian Open announced an unprecedented prize pool increase of nearly 16% for 2025; reaching an approximate value of $74.9 million AUD (111.5 Million = USD 72 Million). Meanwhile, French Open also confirmed significant prize pool increases, increasing total prize money to EUR 61.7 Million (+5.5%) which represents an increase from previous edition by 5.44 Million EUR (5 Million Dollar).
As yet it remains to be seen if similar increases will take effect for Wimbledon and US Open events this year.