From fame to sporting glory to titles, there are many things that motivate an athlete to keep at it. But for 28-year-old Alexander Bublik, his source of tennis motivation is far more pragmatic. Ever the maverick, Bublik has long made it clear that tennis is simply a means to an end, not the end itself.

“I hate every day I have to play. To be honest, I don’t see any positive aspect to being a tennis player,” said Bublik. “I only play for money. If there were no money at stake, I would stop playing. I haven’t earned enough, otherwise I would have retired already, and I think I will probably die playing tennis.”

Bublik has made it clear that he’s all about working smart, not hard. “I work hard, but on my terms,” he once said. So, keeping with his pragmatic mindset, according to a report from Express, Bublik was paid a substantial fee of £118,000 (~$155,175) for a two-hour training session with Carlos Alcaraz ahead of his final in Turin against Jannik Sinner.

Bublik was in Turin as the first alternate at the ATP Finals. Though he wasn’t deputized at any point, he will still walk away with a handsome $155k in appearance fees for staying in Turin throughout – an outcome that is perhaps perfectly aligned with his tennis philosophy.

While the spotlight shines on his competitors like Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who thrive on the sport’s biggest stages, a starkly different reality exists for some of their peers on the professional tour. The intense pressure and solitude of a tennis player’s life can breed a deep-seated discontent, a theme that has been echoed by many top players.

The sport is often described as one of the most solitary and mentally taxing, where players are alone on the court with no one to share the blame or the pressure. Players like Nick Kyrgios have voiced this sentiment before, stating, “I don’t think people understand how lonely you can feel in the tennis.”

But Bublik has never been one to let tennis overtake his life, instead choosing to prioritize work-life. He even misses practice sometimes. “So, for me, it’s a 50-50 relationship. If I can’t walk at the age of 40, it’s OK? No, it’s not,” he said earlier this year, highlighting that as a father to two year-old Wassily, he had more than just tennis to worry about.

The grueling, 11-month season involves constant travel across time zones, discombobulated sleep schedules, and long hours spent in lonely hotel rooms, which can turn a childhood passion into an energy-sucking job.

The financial dynamics of the tour can exacerbate this feeling, as the vast majority of prize money is concentrated among the very top players, creating a scenario where many professionals lower in the rankings struggle to break even, making the sport a financial gamble rather than a fulfilling career for years on end. However, how much the two rivals can actually earn following the tournament in Turin?

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are set to win big

The prize money pool for the 2025 Nitto ATP Finals is set at a record-breaking $15.5 million. The prize system for the singles competition is all about performance, giving players various chances to earn as the event unfolds. Every qualified participant is set to receive a participation fee of $331,000. Plus, players get a nice reward for every round-robin match they win, with each victory bringing in $396,500.

Making it to the knockout stages means even bigger payouts: if a player wins in the semi-finals, that’s $1,183,500, and taking home the final victory adds another $2,367,000 to what they earn. So, if a player manages to win the tournament without losing any matches—becoming the undefeated champion—they’ll walk away with a whopping $5,071,000, which is the biggest single prize ever in the history of the event.

Both Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are on this path together. So, the Spaniard and the Italian have both gone through this tournament without losing a single match, and now they’re facing off in the final. If either of the two wins, they’ll take home an impressive $5,071,000, and the runner-up will still walk away with $2,910,500.