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on september 4, beijing time, in the 2024 us open women's singles quarter-finals, chinese player zheng qinwen lost to world-famous player and no. 2 seed sabalenka 0-2, and unfortunately stopped in the quarterfinals. for the 21-year-old zheng qinwen, reaching the quarterfinals, with a prize of 530,000 us dollars and 430 points, the chinese golden flower's achievement is still worth being proud of.

according to the previously announced prize money plan of the us open, players who advance to the singles quarterfinals will receive 530,000 us dollars (about 3.75 million rmb). as a result, zheng qinwen's total prize money for the four grand slam tournaments this year has reached 13.91 million rmb. this figure has exceeded her tournament income of 1.7 million us dollars (about 12.1 million rmb) for the whole of last year.

it is reported that the total prize money of the us open, the last grand slam event of this year, is as high as 75 million us dollars, ranking first among the four grand slams. so where does such a high prize money come from, and why is the us open so lucrative?

the four major championships have won 13.91 million yuan in prize money

according to previous reports, zheng qinwen ranked 15th on forbes' 2023 list of the highest-paid female athletes in sports with a total income of us$7.2 million (rmb 51.28 million). among them, the income from competitions was us$1.7 million (rmb 12.1 million) and the income from off-court endorsements was us$5.5 million (rmb 39.17 million).

in 2024, zheng qinwen ushered in the highlight moment of her career.

at the australian open in january, zheng qinwen reached the grand slam final for the first time. although she lost to sabalenka, she still won a high prize of 1.725 million australian dollars (about 8.33 million yuan).

at the french open in early june, zheng qinwen was eliminated in the third round of 32 and won a prize of 158,000 euros (about 1.25 million yuan).

at the wimbledon championships in july, zheng qinwen was unexpectedly eliminated in the first round and won a prize of 60,000 pounds (about 560,000 yuan).

at the us open in september, zheng qinwen defeated vikic and advanced to the quarterfinals, winning a prize of us$530,000 (approximately rmb 3.75 million).

it is reported that the total prize money of the last grand slam event of this year, the us open, is as high as 75 million us dollars. among them, the singles champion will receive 3.6 million us dollars, the runner-up will receive 1.8 million us dollars, and the semi-finals will receive 1 million us dollars. this means that if zheng qinwen wins the championship, her grand slam tournament income will reach an astonishing 35.78 million yuan. and this figure does not include other competition income and commercial advertising income.

nine of the top 10 highest-paid female athletes are tennis players

it is reported that after winning the gold medal at the paris olympics, zheng qinwen currently has at least 10 brand sponsorships, including: nike, alipay, rolex, wilson, swisher, mcdonald's, yili, gatorade, bawang tea princess, lancome, etc.

according to a comprehensive report by china business news, industry insiders believe that zheng qinwen's money-making potential is far from limited to this, and it is very likely that he has become the chinese athlete with the highest commercial value at this stage. some media also predict that zheng qinwen's income in 2024 may surpass gu ailing, and even surpass li na at her peak.

tennis is the number one professional sport for women. among the top ten highest-paid female athletes in 2023 published by forbes magazine, nine are tennis players. among them, wta world no. 1 swiatek topped the list with a total income of $23.9 million, including $9.9 million in on-court income and $14 million in off-court income.

currently, the four grand slam tournaments (australian open, wimbledon, french open, and u.s. open) are the highest-level competitions in professional tennis.

according to the 2022 tennis grand slam business report, the us open is the most profitable grand slam event, earning approximately $98.65 million from sponsors each year. according to the 2019 report, the us open's revenue accounted for approximately 29% of the total sponsorship fees of the four grand slam events, the french open accounted for 28%, the australian open accounted for 27%, and wimbledon accounted for 16%.

in addition, celebrities from various fields can often be captured by the camera in the seats of the four major tennis tournaments. tennis players are also the favorite spokespersons of fashion magazines and luxury goods. they are one of the types of athletes who are closest to high-net-worth customers and have the most commercial value.

the us open is the most lucrative grand slam tournament

so why is tennis so profitable? some media analysts believe that tennis has a huge audience both at home and abroad, and there are a large number of international competitions every year, and the sponsorship fees for these competitions are extremely high. in addition, top tennis players can also sign contracts with many well-known brands and receive high endorsement fees.

according to the 2021 global tennis report released by the international tennis federation, there are 87.18 million people participating in tennis in the world in 2021. china ranks second in the world in terms of the number of tennis players with 19.92 million people, second only to the united states, accounting for 22.9% of the world's total tennis population. at the same time, the number of tennis courts in china is also the second largest in the world, reaching 49,767. the number of tennis coaches in china ranks fifth in the world with 11,350.

such a large audience group has also attracted many commercial sponsors. in the tennis world, the income of the event is mainly composed of broadcasting fees, ticket revenue, sponsors and peripheral product sales.

according to statistics from the data agency data snapshot, the annual income from commercial sponsorship of professional tennis tournaments alone is as high as about 2.5 billion yuan. the total prize money of this us open is as high as 75 million us dollars, setting a historical record. according to the "2022 tennis grand slam business report", the us open is the most profitable grand slam tournament, which can earn about 98.65 million us dollars from sponsors each year. the generous sponsorship income also makes the us open's tournament prize money surpass the four grand slams. in 2019, the total prize money of the us open reached a record 57 million us dollars, 15 million us dollars higher than the french open that year. this year, the overall revenue of the us open was nearly 350 million us dollars, ranking first among the four grand slams.

of course, for players, tournament income is only a part of their income, and advertising endorsement fees also account for a considerable proportion. for example, tennis star serena williams only earned $4 million from prize money in 2019, while sponsorship income was as high as $25 million.

finally, tennis is also known as an “elite sport” that has always been favored by high-end brands and attracts a large number of wealthy audiences. international tennis events often attract celebrities and royal family members to watch live, such as princess kate who often appears at wimbledon. she will personally watch the games, especially the important finals. as the patron of the all england club, princess kate usually presents the trophies for the men's and women's singles champions.

in addition to watching the games and award ceremonies, kate will also participate in some wimbledon-related activities, such as interacting with young tennis players and attending charity dinners.

(yangcheng evening news yangcheng school is compiled from jimu news, china news network, xinhua news agency, blue whale finance, daily economic news, consumer news, beijing youth daily, beijing business daily, china business news, etc.)

editor: wei liyuan

source: yangcheng evening news·yangcheng news