“Eight titles, 10 finals… That shows how hard I’ve worked just to be able to experience these moments and accomplish my goals,” said Carlos Alcaraz, who couldn’t contain his emotions. In his debut at the Japan Open, the 22-year-old lifted his 24th ATP career title, less than a month after the US Open triumph. But there is gloomy news: he must sacrifice a sizeable chunk due to an unexpected withdrawal from the 2025 penultimate Masters event.

Following his Japan Open win, Alcaraz pocketed a decent prize of $416,365. However, it might not be enough to balance out the financial loss he will make with his decision not to go to Shanghai. Immediately after his triumphant campaign in Tokyo, the world No.1 confirmed that he won’t play the Shanghai Masters this time due to an ankle injury he sustained at the beginning of the Japan Open.

The situation has become tricky for Alcaraz because he opted out of this ATP 1000 event. It will affect his year-end prize pool while wiping out $1 million, according to tennis insider José Morón, who pointed out the potential cracks in Alcaraz’s prize money.

The ATP awards a massive bonus to players who earn the highest points in all the Masters tournaments and the ATP Finals. This season, $21 million will be allocated among the top 30 players. They are the ones who have gained the most points across nine Masters and the year-end finale event, subject to their participation. Thanks to being on the leaderboard, Alcaraz was in line to collect a whopping $4.5 million in bonuses at the end of 2025. But not anymore.

According to the rules, a player who doesn’t participate loses 25% of the bonus amount received for competing in each Masters 1000 tournament. His withdrawal from Shanghai will remove $1,125,000 from that lucrative $4.5 million bonus figure.

Despite this negative update, the positive news is that Alcaraz is still on top when it comes to the overall prize money earned for the 2025 season. His archrival, Jannik Sinner, is in the second spot with over $12 million. The gap is good enough, but the Italian may shrink it going forward.

Due to Alcaraz not appearing in Shanghai, Sinner will get the chance to boost his prize money total this season. Upon defending his title once again, he can receive a whopping $1,124,380 as the winner. Doing so will take his tally to over $13 million. However, the Spaniard still got a golden opportunity to compensate for the losses from his Shanghai withdrawal. Thanks to Netflix.

Carlos Alcaraz to get huge $7 million chance to make up for Shanghai loss

The next edition of streaming giant Netflix’s Six Kings Slam is set to take place this month. Now, what makes things interesting for Carlos Alcaraz is the pay structure of this event.

Based on the format, the 22-year-old will receive a participation fee of $1.5 million, irrespective of the result. In this case, he will easily recover the amount deducted from his Shanghai withdrawal. On top of it, winning the Six Kings Slam will ensure that he gets an additional $4.5 million. Last season, Alcaraz couldn’t make it happen after Sinner beat him in the summit clash.

This time, the Spaniard will look to take revenge and the mouth-watering cash prize. The Six Kings Slam will commence on October 15 and end on October 18. Notably, the prize money earned through Netflix’s tournament won’t be included in his ATP prize money simply because it is an exhibition event. But it doesn’t matter since he can pocket a massive figure. This is not the case even if you play back-to-back ATP tournaments in a season.

Carlos Alcaraz is trying to recover on time so he can appear at the Six Kings Slam. After that, he will build momentum by making an impact at the Paris Masters. Especially before going to Turin for the ATP Finals in November.