TENNIS | AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Jannik Sinner beats Daniil Medvedev to win 2024 Australian Open: how much prize money did he earn?
The 22-year-old Italian came back from two sets down to win his first ever Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park.
There is a new men’s tennis Grand Slam champion in town after Jannik Sinner came back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev to win the 2024 Australian Open at in Melbourne.
The Italian had to reach the final the hard way after being drawn against world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, although he made surprisingly light work of the most decorated male player in history, winning with a set to spare.
Medvedev loses from two sets up for second time in three yeats
In the early stages of the final, however, it didn’t look as if a repeat was on the cards. Medvedev took initial control, breaking in the third game to take the first set and then twice in the second, winning both 6-3.
But 22-year-old Sinner, who had dropped only one set compared to his opponent’s eight on the way to the final, grew stronger as the match wore on and started to dictate the pace of play, although he did have a few scares along the way, especially in the third and fourth sets.
One break was enough in each of the final three sets for a 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory against the 2021 US Open champion, who becomes the first male player in history to lose two Grand Slam finals after being two sets ahead (previously against Rafa Nadal at the same tournament two years ago).
Sinner’s Australian Open earnings
This year’s edition of the competition has a record prize pool of AUD $86.5 million (around $57.1 million), a 13.07% increase from 2023. Both Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, this year’s women’s champion, will take home AUD $3,150,000, which works out at around $2,130,975. Beaten finalists Medvedev and Qinwen Zheng earned AUD $1,725,000 ($1,166,963).
The next Grand Slam of 2024 is, as always, the French Open, which will take place at Stade Roland Garros in Paris between Monday 20 May and Sunday 9 June 2024. Djokovic is the defending men’s champion and will again be bidding to a record-extending 25th men’s Grand Slam title, while Poland’s Iga Swiatek will be chasing a third successive victory in the French capital and a fourth overall.