Professional tennis compensation and structural reforms

Professional tennis organizations are implementing structural changes regarding player compensation and tournament standards.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced that the Rome tournament will equalize prize money for men and women starting in 2027. This move, alongside changes to the Canadian Open and Cincinnati, ensures all joint WTA 1000 series tournaments will feature identical prize funds. WTA President Valerie Camillo described the decision as a “major step forward for tennis” in the pursuit of financial and competitive equality.

Concurrently, the ATP has unveiled the ‘OneVision’ project, a series of reforms scheduled for 2028. Announced by ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi, the initiative aims to address player workload, reduce injuries, and improve the commercial sustainability of the tour.

Key financial proposals include increasing the bonus pool from $21.5 million to $50 million, with an additional $25 million in seasonal bonuses for the top 250 ranked players. The plan also allocates approximately $30 million annually toward pension and social security benefits for 300 players, with total player compensation projected to reach $350 million.

Structural reforms will involve redistributing ranking points to place higher value on major tournaments and eliminating the rule that allows players to replace poor Masters 1000 results with better outcomes from smaller tournaments. This change is intended to discourage ‘overplaying’ and allow players to better plan their schedules. The calendar will also be restructured, including the addition of a tenth Masters 1000 tournament in Saudi Arabia.