US Open Champs Get $2.6 Million, Total Compensation $60M

FILE - Daylight streams in from the open roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium as Donna Vekic, of Croatia, serves against Belinda Bencic, of Switzerland, during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Sept. 4, 2019, in New York. The U.S. Open singles champions will receive $2.6 million this year, with total player compensation for the Grand Slam tournament surpassing $60 million for the first time. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File)

The U.S. Open singles champions will receive $2.6 million this year, with total player compensation for the Grand Slam tournament surpassing $60 million for the first time.

A larger portion of that total is being allocated to the earlier rounds, the U.S. Tennis Association said Thursday, following input from the men’s and women’s tour player councils. Players will receive $80,000 just for making the main draw and $121,000 for reaching the second round.

In 2019, the last year before the coronavirus pandemic, the singles champions earned $3.9 million. A first-round loser got $58,000 and a player eliminated in the second round earned $100,000.

Players will earn $445,000 for reaching the quarterfinals and $705,000 for being a semifinalist. The runner-up gets $1.3 million.

The doubles championship teams will earn $688,000

The $60.1 million total surpasses last year’s $57.5 million total, which was already more than the other three Grand Slam tournaments paid this year. Total prize money for the U.S. Open qualifying tournament has now reached $6.26 million, with final-round prize money $44,000.

This year’s Australian Open purse was about $52 million, with Wimbledon and the French Open nearly $49 million.

Main draw play at the U.S. Open begins Aug. 29 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. -AP

August 19, 2022