ROME -- Billie Jean King has often said that she was moved to form the women's pro tennis circuit after earning $600 for her 1970 Italian Open title while Ilie Nastase took home $3,500 for winning the men's tournament the same year.
In 2027, nearly six decades after King's title at the Foro Italico, the Rome clay-court event will award women the same amount of total prize money as men, part of a "major milestone" initiative that the WTA Tour announced Thursday.
The initiative means that all combined WTA 1000 events will award equal prize money for the first time. Besides the Italian Open, the holdouts had been the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open. The other combined 1000 events in Indian Wells, California; Miami; Madrid; and Beijing as well as all four Grand Slams already offer equal prize money.
"Achieving equal prize money across all combined WTA 1000 tournaments is a major milestone for tennis," WTA chair Valerie Camillo said. "It demonstrates the WTA's continued commitment to leading the sports industry in delivering our athletes competitive and financial equality and is a testament to the enduring nature of the founding vision of the WTA."
In 2023, Italian Open organizers pledged to have equal prize money starting in 2025 but didn't carry through on the promise.