Carlos Alcaraz is already a tennis legend. The Spanish star was crowned champion of the 2026 Australian Open after defeating Novak Djokovic in the final.
With that victory, at just 22 years old, he became the youngest player in tennis history to win all four Grand Slam titles: the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open.
The player from Murcia also earned a highly coveted financial reward. By lifting the trophy in Melbourne, Alcaraz pocketed 4.1 million Australian dollars (approximately $2.8 million USD), pushing his total career prize money since turning professional in 2020 past the $60 million mark.
Runner-up Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, received 2.1 million Australian dollars (around $1.4 million USD), further boosting the earnings of his 21-year professional career to a staggering $192 million.
This prize money figure set a new record at the Australian Open, which raised its payout by 19% compared to last season. In 2025, champion Jannik Sinner earned 3.6 million Australian dollars (about $2.5 million USD).
The women’s champion, Elena Rybakina, also received the same amount as Alcaraz. In fact, the Kazakh player earned an even larger payday with her most recent title in 2025 at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, which awarded a check for $5.1 million.
That event was the result of an agreement between the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to host the tournament for three editions (2024, 2025, and 2026), each featuring a total prize pool of $15.3 million.
Overall, the 2026 Australian Open distributed a total of 111.5 million Australian dollars (approximately $77.5 million USD) in prize money, representing a 15% increase compared to the 2025 edition, when total payouts reached 102 million Australian dollars (around $70 million USD).
The first Grand Slam of the year also closed with a new attendance record. After setting a high mark last year with 1.2 million fans over the two weeks of the tournament, this edition surpassed that figure by welcoming 1.3 million spectators.
