Jannik Sinner and Linda Noskova won’t keep a lot of their £3.6m Wimbledon prize money – here’s why
For the second Grand Slam running, top men’s and women’s players staged a sort of protest over the ongoing prize money row in the majors.
For the first week of the tournament, many competitors limited their contractual media commitments to 15 minutes as they felt the overall prize fund of £64.2m wasn’t enough.
Despite prize money increasing by 20% from last year’s Wimbledon to this year’s, players’ hopes of receiving 22% of the tournament’s revenue share were dashed, with those in the draw getting around 15% instead.
And perhaps their concerns over prize money are most salient when it comes to the grass court major. That is because of the United Kingdom’s hefty tax bills.
On the face of it, both women’s champion Linda Noskova and men’s champion Jannik Sinner ostensibly pocketed £3.6m but the reality is quite different.
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In the UK, tax rules mean that international sportsmen and women have to pay tax on their winnings – something that is not the case at the French Open, Australian Open, and US Open.
According to accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg, those tax deductions impact prize money, any UK-specific sponsorship or promotional appearances, and a proportion of image and marketing rights incoming that comes from their time in the country.
Last year, the 2025 winners, Sinner and Iga Swiatek, saw around £1.3m of their £3m in prize money wiped out by taxes, as any earnings over £125,140 are taxed at the additional rate of 45%.
HM Revenue and Customs reportedly raked in an estimated £17m of the 2025 prize pool of £53.5m and with this year’s pot rising more than £10m, that £3.6m fund will get heavily eaten into again.
According to reports, women’s title winner Noskova, who beat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 on Saturday, and Sinner will see HMRC take around £1.6m of that.
Then when you factor in the hundreds of thousands spent on a players’ entourage, agents, and more, estimates suggest Noskova and Sinner, who beat Alexander Zverev 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 6-4, could see that £3.6m shrink to around £1.4m.
For a fortnight’s work, it is still a very good pay day. But it is a long way short of Wimbledon boasting about giving the champion £3.6m. As a result of this, among other things, players’ protests over Grand Slam prize money won’t go away, with many eager to see what the US Open does next.
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