Carlos Alcaraz will top many lists this year, thanks to a stellar 2024, but he's unlikely to finish the season as the highest beneficiary of the ATP bonus scheme.
Last year, the ATP introduced the Bonus Pool distribution as part of its OneVision strategy aimed at providing additional monetary incentives for the top-performing players at the ATP 500 and ATP Masters and year-end championships, also known as the ATP Finals.
The top five players who accumulated the most points at the ATP 500-level tournaments and played a minimum of four events in this category shared a bonus amount of $1.3 million.
World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev headed the list and received the biggest bonus paycheck, $600,000. Alcaraz finished second and received $300,000. However, the Spaniard outperformed the rest of the field in the higher-tier tournaments.
For the Masters 1000 and ATP Finals combined, players shared a colossal bonus of $20 million. In addition, as many as 30 players with the most points from tournaments of that level stood to gain the bonuses.
Alcaraz topped the list after the 2023 ATP Finals, garnering 3,685 points. He won the Indian Wells and the Madrid Open. He was a runner-up in Cincinnati and a semifinalist in Turin. The 21-year-old earned $4.4 million in bonuses.
Medvedev finished second on this list ahead of current World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. One player who missed out on the list despite putting together a record-setting year was Novak Djokovic, who, despite winning two Masters (like Alcaraz), was not eligible for payment.
The Serbian did not fulfill the requirement of playing in all mandatory ATP 1000s. In fact, he missed five of the nine Masters, and the men's governing body had a clear right, as per its rulebook, to chalk off his entire bonus check.
That's almost the same fate that awaits Alcaraz, who has already withdrawn from the 2024 Canadian Open that will begin next week. The World No. 3 secured his spot in the gold medal match on Sunday against Djokovic at the Paris Olympics in their second meeting of the season.
Why Alcaraz's 2024 Bonus Payment Will Be Reduced By Half
Alcaraz has already missed one mandatory Masters (Rome) because of a forearm injury, which instantly reduces his bonus by 25%. Understandably, he will miss his second (Montreal) because of the Olympic Games.
This will result in a 50% decrease in the millions he was expected to receive at the end of the season. If Alcaraz misses a third mandatory Masters, like Cincinnati or Shanghai, then the bonus will be reduced by 75%.
He ranks fourth in the 2024 Masters 1000 and year-end Bonus Pool standings with 1400 points. Sinner tops the list with 2000 points and can pull clear of Alexander Zverev (2nd) and Medvedev (3rd) in Canada, where he will defend his title.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, and Andrey Rublev have also accumulated at least 1000 points and are among the top 10 on the list. Grigor Dimitrov, Nicolas Jarry, and Tommy Paul will also reap big. The ATP has not yet announced the bonus amount for 2024.
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