Why Carlos Alcaraz could lose millions in prize money after his Canadian Open withdrawal
Carlos Alcaraz will likely miss out on a significant sum of prize money as a result of his withdrawal from the 2024 Canadian Open.
The four-time Grand Slam champion, who is still competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics, announced on Thursday he would not feature at the upcoming National Bank Open.
“It has been a very long season for me and due to the accumulation of matches and fatigue, I will not be able to play in Montreal this year,” said Alcaraz in a statement on Thursday.
“I was really looking forward to coming back to Canada and enjoying the love of the fans. Hope to see everyone in Montreal in the years to come!”
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Alcaraz will take on Novak Djokovic in the gold medal match at the Paris Games on Sunday just two days before the start of the Canadian Open, which will run from August 4-6. The ATP Masters 1000 tournament will be held in Montreal this year.
Missing the Canadian event was the only logical choice for Alcaraz given a very swift change of surface from clay to hard courts after playing a huge final in a different continent would have been required.
Alcaraz’s withdrawal means, though, that he will forfeit 50% of his ATP bonus pool share for the 2024 season. The bonus pool is shared among ATP players based on performance at Masters 1000 events and the ATP Finals.
Players lose half of their share if they miss two mandatory Masters 1000 events in a season and Montreal will be the second such tournament Alcaraz will not play in 2024 after injury forced him out of the Italian Open. The Spaniard topped the bonus pool standings for 2023 by earning $4.2 million.
If players miss three or more mandatory Masters 1000 events in a season, they will forfeit 100% of their bonus pool share — which happened to Novak Djokovic last year.
Djokovic has also withdrawn from Montreal, which will be the third mandatory tournament he will miss in 2024 following Miami and Madrid, meaning he will again lose access to the bonus pool prize money.
Alcaraz and Djokovic may not be too fazed by their respective losses, however, given their lofty earnings in prize money and endorsements.
On Alcaraz’s withdrawal, Valerie Tetreault, director of the Montreal tournament, said: “We are obviously disappointed that Carlos [Alcaraz] will not be with us this year. At 21 years of age, he already has 15 titles – four of which are at Grand Slam events.
“Fans were naturally eager to see him back in action at IGA Stadium, but we were also well aware that he’s had a busy summer and is currently on a quest to achieve a major feat: winning consecutive French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic titles.
“He’s still at the early stages of his career, so we’ll definitely have the chance to see him again in the coming years.
“Once we’ve looked past our initial disappointment, we have to consider the tournament as a whole, which remains extremely competitive, with the vast majority of the world’s best players in attendance.”
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