Canadian tennis players winning big at the U.S. Open — even when they lose

Even losing can feel like winning sometimes. Just look at Canadian pro-tennis players participating in the U.S. Open.

Felix Auger-Aliassime has made his way into the men’s singles semifinals. Walking away from the court on Friday a loser will still mean $1.26 million in his pocket.

And that’s in American dollars. (All amounts mentioned hereafter are in U.S. dollars.)

The only other Canadian still in the running is Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski. She and her doubles partner, New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe, advanced to the women’s doubles final, also on Friday.

If they lose, they still stand to share $500,000, $1 million if they win.

They play their final before Auger-Aliassime takes to the court. It will be hectic evening for Canadian tennis fans. 

How much has the U.S. Open pot grown?

This year’s total pot for players at the U.S. Open is a record $85 million .

The tournament generates significant revenue from worldwide broadcasting rights, sponsorships, ticket sales, and related activities. It is the biggest annual earner for tennis professionals.

In 2024, the total pot was $70 million. However, a 21 per cent increase in the winnings this year is still only about 15 per cent of the tournament’s approximate $560 million revenue haul.

Meanwhile, the winners for the individual men’s and women’s tournaments will walk off the court with the largest winning payouts in the sport — $5 million, up from $3.6 million in 2024.

The tournament’s prize money has grown for participants other than the winners too. The upgraded purse for individual players has jumped too: runners-up get $2.5 million, up 39 per cent; semi-finalists $1.26 million, up 26 per cent; quarterfinalists, $660,000, up 25 per cent. Round of 16 competitors get $400,000, up 23 per cent.

Aside from increasing the prize money, the U.S. Open also looked to lower the out-of-pocket expenses incurred by players. Competitors are given a $1,000 travel stipend and two rooms in the player hotel or $600 per day if they choose to stay elsewhere. Players also get free racquet-stringing for up to five racquets per pound. All this adds up to $5 million in player support.

How does the U.S. Open compare to other major tennis tournaments?

In comparison with other major pro-tennis tournaments, U.S. Open prize money simply dwarfs them.

Wimbledon pays a total of $72.7 million. The French Open pays $65.4 million and the Australian Open pays $62.9 million.

This year’s U.S. Open pay hike came after top players hired World Tennis Association chief executive Larry Scott to speak to the event organizers, advocating for a bigger slice of the tournament revenue pie.

Team sports in the U.S. generally give players close to 50 per cent of the profit, while tennis players generally receive only 15 per cent and 20 per cent of U.S. Open revenue, according to The New York Times . But the tournament is the only Grand Slam regularly filling a 20,000-plus seat stadium every night, with significant ticket sales contributing to the overall income.

It’s annual setting in New York City, with media and business connections, also boosts its commercial appeal.

What are Auger-Aliassime’s chances?

Seeded 25th, Auger-Aliassime will now meet top seed Italian player, Jannik Sinner. However, Auger-Aliassime’s quarterfinal win wasn’t pretty. Instead, it was “an absolute grind,” according to SportsNet . He appeared slow in the early going, much slower than he had been in wins during the third and fourth rounds.

Auger-Aliassime has a career high singles ranking of No. 6, which came in November 2022. But he has spent most of the last two years outside of the top 20 and dropped as low as to No. 36 in April 2024.

He came into this U.S. Open ranked No. 27. As of Wednesday, his provisional ranking is No. 13.

What about Dabrowski?

Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski is in her second final in three years, alongside Kiwi Erin Routliffe. She is the last Canadian woman left in the U.S. Open and one win away from her fourth career Grand Slam women’s doubles title.

The Can-Kiwi duo prevailed to win in the 2023 U.S. Open.

What has happened to other Canadian entrants?

The other big women’s doubles match-up involving a Canadian was Leylah Fernandez and legendary American player, Venus Williams. They lost in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, earning $125,000 each.

Canadian Denis Shapovalov fell short of a win in his third round match, taking home $237,000. Shapovalov has reached as high as number 10 in the world rankings. The 26-year-old Canadian has since slipped to number 29.

The newest Canadian tennis phenom, Victoria Mboko ended her U.S. Open debut early, losing in the first-round on Monday. Nevertheless, she walked away adding $30,000 to her bank balance.

It was her first match since claiming the National Bank Open title in Montreal earlier this month.

• Mboko magic: A Canadian teen's 'unbelievable' rise to the top of her game
• Steve Simmons: Why Felix Auger-Aliassime deserved more than one medal at Olympics

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