The bright lights of Saudi Arabia’s biggest city shone on Coco Gauff. The young American lifted her second-biggest WTA title of her career at the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Gauff left her mark at the tournament with wins over the current top two players, but additionally, she made history as the recipient of the largest paycheck in women’s professional tennis.
Gauff toppled Qinwen Zheng in a three-hour epic
It was a glittering end to Gauff’s season. The 20-year-old won the season-ending championships for the first time in her young career by defeating Olympic Gold Medalist Qinwen Zheng in the final match on Saturday.
It was a compelling match, full of twists and turns. The contest was settled by a third-set tie-break after three hours of absorbing tennis.
The former US Open champion had previously scored wins over Iga Swiatek (round robin) and Aryna Sabalenka (semifinal). She finished the tournament with a 4-1 record. Her solitary defeat was to Barbora Krejcikova in the group stage.
How much did Gauff earn for winning the 2024 WTA Finals?
In its first year as tournament hosts, organizers within the Saudi Arabian tennis fraternity committed a prize money purse in the region of $15 million. It is a record for a tournament of this size and second only to the four Grand Slams.
And considering that only eight singles and doubles players would vie for a share of the prize money, the reward couldn’t be any bigger.
Gauff received $4,805,000 for winning four out of five matches en route to the title. Although the tournament allocated a monstrous $5,150,000 for an undefeated champion, which Gauff fell just short of matching, she will still leave Saudi Arabia as the highest-earning WTA player ever from a single tournament.
The previous record prize money holder from the WTA Finals was Ashleigh Barty, who won the 2019 edition in Shenzhen, China, and received $4.42 million.
How much did Zheng, Sabalenka, and Swiatek earn from competing at the WTA Finals?
Prize money was allocated to all participants, including the two alternates. A maximum of $335,000 was awarded as a participation fee for playing in all three group matches.
Jessica Pegula’s appearance earnings were prorated (she received $275,000) because she only played in two matches and was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.
Her replacement was Daria Kasatkina. She was the first alternate and played one match. The Russian netted $200,000 in a 53-minute workout (she lost 0-6 1-6 to Swiatek).
Danielle Collins was the second alternate, although she was not required to remove her gear. The American will be awarded $140,000.
Zheng was the runner-up and earned $2,305,000, which is more than what the runner-up of the US Open received.
Swiatek and Sabalenka also made seven figures in prize money for their efforts in Riyadh. The two were neck and neck in the race to finish the season as World No. 1. Ultimately, it was Sabalenka who edged out the Pole.
The Belarusian was a semifinalist in Saudi’s capital. She will bank the same amount of prize money as Swiatek, who was eliminated from the group stage. Each will be awarded $1,035,000.
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
