Indian Wells champions Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner hit with hefty tax bill as over £300k of winnings set to be forfeited

Both Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka won a lot of money from taking home the Indian Wells titles. To be exact: £865,000 ($1,151,380). Or that may seem the case on paper, with both players set to be on the end of a very hefty tax bill.

The pair both conquered Indian Wells with efficiency and class, taking down each of their opponents expertly. Going into the final, both players had yet to drop a set. Sabalanka would see that satisfying record go tumbling away as her nemesis Elena Rybakina stole a march on the world number one. She was desperately hoping to get one over the Kazakh, who defeated her in the WTA Finals and Australian Open finals in recent times. It would be this day that Sabalenka finally picked up a huge win over the new world number two, surviving a match point as she completed a hugely impressive comeback for a first title in the California desert.

The same can be said for Sinner, who was lucky enough to avoid a final clash against Carlos Alcaraz, leaving the fans patiently waiting for their first highly anticipated clash in 2026. Instead, an inform and dangerous Daniil Medvedev would stand in his way. Both sets had a grand total of zero breaks in them, showing the quality of serving on hand. Even the tiebreaks were closely fought, but the four-time Grand Slam champion was able to prevail as he completed the collection of major hardcourt titles, becoming the youngest player to achieve that feat.

After taking a glance at it, both Sinner and Sabalenka would be earning £865,000. An equal sum of money was up for grabs in both the men's and women's events at Indian Wells, and that will be the same for the Miami Open coming up shortly.

That money will not all be making a one-way trip into the champions' bank accounts. Analysis by AskGamblers shows that each of them owes £321,000 as a result of the US regulations. They are not the only ones.

The IRS orders a 30% stake of prize money for non-residents from the tournament prize pot. To rub salt into the wound, an additional seven per cent state income tax is applied to residents outside of California. While Sabalenka currently resides in Miami, she is not an American citizen, meaning she is in on the pay cut as well. In total, 37% of their prize money will never arrive, leaving them going home with £544,000. This is the same scenario for all players. Medvedev and Rybakina will forego £169,000 of the £450,000 won.

That is not all for Sabalenka, who seemingly owes 18-time Grand Slam champion, Martina Navratilova. Currently working as a pundit for Sky Sports, she was described by Sabalenka as a 'lucky charm' last week. In a conversation with her and Tim Henman, the former British number one stated, “She [Navratilova] was talking about a percentage of prize money for the luck."

The eventual winner jokingly agreed to this. “Yeah, we can negotiate it.” Navratilova was not a greedy woman, settling for one percent of Sabalenka's winnings, totalling around £8,650.