ILKLEY, ENGLAND – JUNE 19: Zizou Bergs of Belgium celebrates following victory in the ATP Singles Final match between Jack Sock of United States and Zizou Bergs of Belgium during Day Eight of the Ilkley Trophy at Ilkley Lawn Tennis & Squash Club on June 19, 2022 in Ilkley, England. (Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images for LTA)
Getty Images for LTA
Belgian tennis player Zizou Bergs will add $83,000 to his US Open payday without even playing his next match.
World No. 5 Jack Draper, who was slated to play Bergs in the second round on Thursday, pulled out of the tournament with an arm injury, meaning Bergs advances to the third round via walkover.
Bergs, ranked No. 48 in the world, was set to make $154,000 for reaching the second round, but now stands to make at least $237,000 for advancing to the third round – a difference of $83,000.
This was the first walkover of the tournament in men’s singles. There have been two in-match retirements in men’s singles.
If Bergs wins his next match against either No. 31 seed Gabriel Diallo or Jaume Munar, he would earn $400,000.
Bergs, 26, is in the third round of a major for just the second time in his career. He made it to the third round of Roland Garros a year ago.
Bergs had earned $850,786 entering the US Open, and about $2.3 million for his career.
“The Grand Slams are the places where, as a player not ranked super high, you get most of the money during the year,” former top-50 player Maximilian Marterer said last year, via Sportico. “It’s obviously something that gives the guys a little safety in order to pay their bills for the coaches, for the flights.”
The US Open this year offers the largest purse in tennis history, becoming the first tennis event to reach $90 million in total player compensation.
The winners will take home $5 million, an increase of 39% from last year, when Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka won $3.6 million.
Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion who spearheaded the Professional Tennis Players Association, said he was pleased to see the total prize money increase, but said there’s still work to do.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Djokovic, who advanced to the third round with a four-set win Wednesday over American Zachary Svajda, said before the tournament. “Obviously, it’s always nice and positive to see that Grand Slams are willing to improve the prize money overall across the board for the players.
“Whether it’s an ideal situation for us, I think overall, I don’t think so. I think there is still a lot more room for improvement in that sense.”
He added, “It’s also important to understand that we live in a very commercial world. Entertainment, sports business is very big. And for grand slams, they are doing very well, as well. So US Open increased the prize money. Other slams are doing it too. But they also have a bigger revenue than the previous year.
“Then there is the inflation part, which is a completely different topic, but important to take in consideration when you talk about these things.
“But again, overall, it’s definitely a positive step.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2025/08/27/belgian-tennis-player-adds-83000-to-us-open-payday-after-world-no-5-pulls-out/
