Aryna Sabalenka celebrating her first Indian Wells title. (Image: Getty)
Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner have been hit with huge bills following their respective victories at Indian Wells. Sabalenka defeated Elena Rybakina 3-6 6-3 7-6(6) in a rematch of their Australian Open final, while Sinner overcame Daniil Medvedev 7-6(6) 7-6(4) in the United States.
Their victories prompted joyous scenes in California as Sinner completed the set of hard-court trophies, while Sabalenka celebrated a week she will remember “for the rest of my life” after getting engaged days before her first Indian Wells title. They also each earned £865,000 for their efforts Stateside.
However, significant portions of those winnings are set to be taken away.
Analysis by AskGamblers reveals that both Sabalenka and Sinner face a £321k tax bill for their wins, as a result of US regulations.
The IRS mandates a 30 per cent stake of prize money for non-residents, and as the tournament also took place in California, an additional seven per cent state income tax is applied.
Those add up to 37 per cent of their prize money, with both players forfeiting over £300k.
While Sabalenka has a home in Miami, she is not a US citizen and is subject to the same 30 per cent withholding of gross income for foreign athletes.
Medvedev and Rybakina will also owe £169k from their runner-up finishes, while Jack Draper, who reached the quarter-finals, is set to part ways with £53k.
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Jannik Sinner has completed the set of hard court titles now. (Image: Getty)
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Meanwhile, Sabalenka has already offered to give up some of her prize money to Sky Sports pundit Martina Navratilova.
She branded the 18-time Grand Slam champion her “lucky charm” last week and asked her to sit courtside for her matches after beating Victoria Mboko in the quarter-final.
In conversation with Navratilova and Tim Henman, the Brit joked: “She [Navratilova] was talking about a percentage of prize money for the luck.”
But Sabalenka replied: “Yeah, we can negotiate it!”
Navratilova later joked that she would be more than happy to take just one per cent of Sabalenka’s takings, which worked out at £8,650.
Meanwhile, Sinner celebrated joining Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the only men to have lifted all six Masters 1000 titles on hard courts.
“I knew that this was a tournament I haven’t won, so I wanted to prepare in the best possible way, as professionally as possible,” said Sinner
“Having this achievement now means a lot to me. Now I have couple of days to relax – there is not so much time in between here and Miami.
“It’s again an important tournament in Miami, but we try to play the best tennis possible there too.”