After years of hard work by legendary women players like Billie Jean King, Serena, and Venus Williams, there is the concept of equal prize money for men and women in tennis. Be it Grand Slams or other big tournaments, all the players get equal prize money depending on their positions and irrespective of gender. The WTA Finals is no exception, and the tournament’s prize money matches that of the ATP Finals. However, ahead of the year-ending championships in Riyadh, an interesting fact has come into the spotlight, that is sure to make the likes of Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff happy.

The overall prize money for the WTA Finals in Riyadh stands at $15,250,000. It is the same as what the ATP Finals will be offering this year. However, their distribution isn’t the same for the players who exit in the round-robin stage and the ones who make it to the knockout stage of the event.

While the ATP will pay more for winning the group stage matches, the WTA Finals will offer more to the players making it to the knockout phase of the tournament. A round-robin match win in the ATP Finals will land a player $396,500. On the other hand, a player will get $350,000 for winning group-stage matches in the WTA Finals. Meanwhile, the WTA Finals champion will get $2,500,000 whereas the ATP Finals champion will win $2,237,200.

Interestingly, the sum of $15,250,000 is the record prize money on offer at the WTA Finals. Last year, the total purse for this tournament was only $9 Million and this year’s purse is almost 70% more than that of the previous season.

While Swiatek will be a hot favorite to defend her crown in Riyadh, Coco Gauff is also in the running to win her maiden title here. Ahead of her campaign in Riyadh, Serena Williams’ ex-coach dished out some precious advice for Gauff.

Serve the only cause of worry for Coco Gauff

The American sensation hasn’t had the best of seasons and has won just 2 titles in 2024. A major reason for Gauff’s losses this year has been her serve and she has often been a victim of double faults. However, Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, believes that Gauff can win the WTA Finals if she improves her serve.

She said, “If she serves less than six double faults in her matches, no matter what match she plays, she will win the tournament. Her serve is as big as anybody’s on tour, it’s a matter of getting the serve in the court and not getting the serve absolutely handed to her… You’re serving 20-21 double faults in a match and you lose 6-3 or 6-4 in the third. You get your serve and you win.”

Additionally, Gauff has been handed a kind draw at the WTA Finals. She has avoided the likes of Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina in the group stage and only has Iga Swiatek as a potential favorite in her group. The other two players in Gauff’s group are Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova. Can Gauff prove her critics wrong and win the WTA Finals title this year? Let us know your views in the comments below.