Australian Open prize money increased to record high thanks to Tennis Australia boost
Tennis Australia has channelled a share of its spectacular rise in revenue back to players by announcing a $111.5m prize pool for this year’s Australian Open, up 16% on last year.The uplift takes the “happy slam” past Wimbledon, which offered $108m (£53.5m) in 2025, but still behind the US Open’s $134m (US$90m).“This 16% increase demonstrates our commitment to supporting tennis careers at every level,” Tennis Australia (TA) chief executive, Craig Tiley, said.
“From boosting qualifying prize money by 55% since 2023, to enhancing player benefits, we’re ensuring professional tennis is sustainable for all competitors.”The winners of the men’s and women’s singles will receive $4.15m each, up 19% on the $3.5m from 2025.Those who lose in qualifying enjoy a bump of 16%, meaning players who exit at the earliest stage still take home $40,500.
TA also supports players through travel assistance – which increased 67% – and welfare initiatives.The expanded purse follows an explosion in TA’s revenue in 2025.Documents lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) and released in December reported income in the year to September at $693m, an increase of $102m on the preceding period.The filing does not break down the precise source of the uplift, instead attributing most of it to the broad category of operations and events, which consists of payments from commercial, government and broadcast partners, as well as ticket sales.TA introduced strategies of “re-engineering ticket types and pricing to better match consumer demand” and “build and monetise our audience” in 2024.
A new broadcast deal with Channel Nine began last year, reportedly worth about $80m annually.A rise in expenses to $681m almost matched revenue growth, but income was enough to leave a net surplus of $15.8m, up on the $7.4m reported in 2024.A surplus of $62m in 2023 was made possible by the Victorian government forgiving a Covid-era loan worth $43m.
The accounts also highlight the effort by the sport’s governing body to become a venture capital player and startup backer in the arena of sport and entertainment technology.TA’s acquisition of investments rose to $66.1m from $20.7m in 2024.Recently, there have been heightened tensions with players about pay and conditions on tour.
TA and the Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) are reportedly finalising a settlement following an action in the US district court for alleged breaches of US antitrust law.Australian officials declined to comment on progress on Tuesday, but reiterated its position from late last year that there have been “productive settlement discussions”.There are conflicting views within the players over the direction of tennis, heightened by this week’s withdrawal of Novak Djokovic from the PTPA, a body he co-founded in 2020.Compensation for Tiley and his senior executives last year increased to $11.1m, up 7% from $10.
4m in 2024.
I May Destroy You helped me confront being spiked
When I May Destroy You aired in the summer of 2020, I hadn’t yet been spiked. Michaela Coel’s comedy-drama, based on her own experience of sexual assault, follows Arabella (Coel) as she realises she was drugged and raped on a night out. With one in four women in Britain having experienced sexual violence, the 12-part series was a difficult watch for many. If not relatable, then confronting and familiar; something that had happened to others, but close enough to know that it could happen to you. Three months later, it did happen to me
From Song Sung Blue to Theatre Picasso: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Song Sung BlueOut now In 2008, an inspirational documentary about Neil Diamond tribute band Lightning & Thunder warmed hearts with its unconventional love story about Mike and Claire Sardina. Now it’s been adapted into this drama, with all Neil Diamond songs present and correct, and Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman in the lead roles.Peter Hujar’s DayOut nowBen Whishaw stars as the photographer and artist-activist of New York’s gay liberation movement, who photographed figures such as Susan Sontag, Fran Lebowitz and John Waters. Set over the course of one day in 1974, this is an adaptation of the book by Linda Rosenkrantz, played here by Rebecca Hall.Menus-Plaisirs: Les TroisgrosOut nowFrederick Wiseman, the godfather of durational documentary, is back with a four-hour epic, observing a Michelin-starred family restaurant in rural France
Forget Keanu: Ulster Scots translation of Beckett classic takes on spate of celebrity Godots
Beneath a stark steel tree in a bleak upland bog, a literary masterpiece is set to assume a different linguistic mantle.Samuel Beckett’s enigmatic tragicomedy Waiting for Godot will make its world premiere in Ulster Scots, a moment described as a “coming of age” for the minority language, and the antithesis of the trend for celebrity Godots.On Good Friday, after an uphill trek of about 3km, the audience will arrive at a spot in the vast volcanic Antrim Plateau in Northern Ireland, if not footsore then certainly empathic to the physical discomfort of Estragon struggling to remove his ill-fitting boots.The “existential landscape of heath, moss and bog” in County Antrim lends itself to a script “peppered with exterior references”, said Seán Doran, of festival organiser Arts over Borders, which is staging the production as part of a major new arts festival, the Samuel Beckett Biennale.But while there have been previous outdoor productions, it will be the “forceful pronunciation and sound” of delivering it in Ulster Scots, or Ullans, for the first time and in a region where the language is spoken, that will “bring a whole new total register” and change the whole performative aspect of the play, said Doran
Demon Slayer economics: how the anime juggernaut became a saviour
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The year of the self-mocking man sketch: ‘Dumb masculinity is very funny’
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‘An Arab in a post-9/11 world’: Khalid Abdalla’s one-man play about belonging comes to Australia
When British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla farewelled the hit series The Crown and his character, Dodi Fayed, he knew he was saying goodbye to a role with a depth and significance well beyond merely a love interest for Princess Diana.“Dodi is one of the first Arab characters I can think of in the history of [western] film that you get to know and love, not fear,” says Abdalla, seated in his London home two years after the series ended. “And so, when he dies, you mourn him.”Glasgow-born Abdalla, 45, whose father and grandfather were leftist political dissidents in Egypt, well understood the cultural significance of fleshing out the character of Alexandria-born Fayed beyond the playboy of legend.He was also acutely aware of the political moment in which his portrayal was being presented
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