Underpaid and overplayed: tennis is ripe for disruption
Streamlining the sport’s bloated calendar would be a good place to start
![Tennis player Elena-Gabriela Ruse has heavily strapped legs due to injury during Trasylvania Open Finals.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240113_BLP522.jpg)
REACHING THE top of tennis will make you very rich. Winners of the men’s and women’s singles at the Australian Open, the first of the four annual grand-slam tournaments, which starts on January 14th, stand to win $2.1m each. Novak Djokovic, the highest-ranked men’s player, earned $16m in prize money across the whole of last year. Iga Swiatek, his female counterpart, won $10m. Go down the rankings, though, and the riches fall away dramatically. Liam Broady, the 100th-best male player, took home $440,000. Zac Blair, the 100th-best golfer, won $2.5m.
Explore more
More from Culture
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240914_CUP001.jpg)
Why many French have come to like “Emily in Paris”
Even if they may not want to admit it
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240914_CUP501.jpg)
“The Perfect Couple” and the new map of Moneyland
Depictions of the super-rich on screen reflect the times
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_BLP517.jpg)
What should “inclusion” include at the Paralympics?
The games make a virtue of their diversity. But there’s still room to grow
The information wars are about to get worse, Yuval Noah Harari argues
The author of “Sapiens” is back with a timely new book about AI, fact and fiction
Arnold Schoenberg was one of classical music’s most important rebels
But, 150 years after his birth, he is underappreciated
Despots and oligarchs have many means to meddle in American politics
The extent of the foreign-influence industry may surprise you