US Open (tennis)

TheUS Open Tennis Championships, commonly called theUS Open, is ahardcourttennistournament organized by theUnited States Tennis Associationannually inQueens, New York City.It is chronologically the fourth and final of the fourGrand Slamtennisevents, held aftertheAustralian Open,French Open, andWimbledon.
The US Open starts on the last Monday of August and continues for two weeks, with the middle weekend coinciding with the United StatesLabor Dayholiday. All players participating must be at least fourteen years old.
The tournament is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, originally known as the U.S. National Championships, for which men's singles and men's doubles werefirst played in August 1881. It is the only Grand Slam that was not affected by cancellation due toWorld War IandWorld War II, nor interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The tournament consists of five primary championships: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles. The tournament also includes events for senior, junior, andwheelchairplayers. Since 1978, the tournament has been played onacrylichardcourts at theUSTA Billie Jean King National Tennis CenterinFlushing Meadows–Corona Park,Queens, New York City. Revenue from ticket sales, sponsorships, and television contracts is used to develop tennis in the United States.
This tournament, from 1971 to 2021, employed standard tiebreakers (first to seven points, win by two) in every set of a singles match.Since 2022, revised tiebreak rules were initiated and standardized in the final set for all four majors, where if a match reaches six-all in the final set (the third for women and fifth for men), an extended tiebreaker (first to ten points, win by two) is played. The introduction of the extended tiebreaker in 2022 was part of a broader effort to standardize play across the Grand Slam tournaments, ensuring consistency in how matches are decided while also addressing player fatigue and match duration.
The tournament was first held in August 1881 ongrass courtsat theNewport CasinoinNewport, Rhode Island, which is now home to theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame. That year, only clubs that were members of theUnited States National Lawn Tennis Association(USNLTA) were permitted to enter.Richard Searswon the men's singles at this tournament, which was the first of his seven consecutive singles titles.From 1884 through 1911, the tournament used a challenge system whereby the defending champion automatically qualified for the next year's final, where he would play the winner of the all-comers tournament.
Only men competed in the U.S. National Championships from 1881 to 1886. It had both a singles and doubles division. The first U.S. Women's National Singles Championship was held at thePhiladelphia Cricket Clubin 1887. The winner was 17-year-old PhiladelphianEllen Hansell. In that same year, the men's doubles event was played at theOrange Lawn Tennis ClubinSouth Orange, New Jersey.
The women's tournament used a challenge system from 1888 through 1918, except in 1917. Between 1890 and 1906, sectional tournaments were held in the east and the west of the country to determine the best two doubles teams, which competed in a play-off for the right to compete against the defending champions in the challenge round.
The1888and the1889men's doubles events were played at theStaten Island Cricket ClubinLivingston, Staten Island,New York.In the1893 Championships, the men's doubles event was played at the St. George Cricket Club inChicago.In 1892, the US Mixed Doubles Championship was introduced and, in 1899, the US Women's National Doubles Championship.
In 1915, the national championships was relocated to theWest Side Tennis ClubinForest Hills, Queens, New York City. The effort to relocate it to New York City began as early as 1911 when a group of tennis players, headed by New YorkerKarl Behr, started working on it.
In early 1915, a group of about 100 tennis players signed a petition in favor of moving the tournament. They argued that most tennis clubs, players, and fans were located in the New York City area and that it would therefore be beneficial for the development of the sport to host the national championships there.This view was opposed by another group of players that included eight former national singles champions.This contentious issue was brought to a vote at the annual USNLTA meeting on February 5, 1915, with 128 votes in favor of and 119 against relocation.In August 1915, the men's singles tournament was held at theWest Side Tennis Club, Forest Hillsin New York City for the first time, while the women's tournament was held at thePhiladelphia Cricket ClubinChestnut Hill, Philadelphia(the women's singles event was not moved until1921). From 1917 to 1933, the men's doubles event was held at theLongwood Cricket ClubinChestnut Hill, Massachusetts. In 1934, both men's and women's doubles events were held at Longwood Cricket Club.
From 1921 through 1923, the men's singles tournament was played at theGermantown Cricket ClubinPhiladelphia.It returned to the West Side Tennis Club in 1924 following the completion of the 14,000-seatForest Hills Stadium.Although many already regarded it as a major championship, the International Lawn Tennis Federation did not officially designate it as one of the world'smajor tournamentsuntil 1924.At the1922 U.S. National Championships, the draw seeded players for the first time to prevent the leading players from playing each other in the early rounds.From 1935 to 1941 and 1946 to 1967, the men's and women's doubles were held at the Longwood Cricket Club.
TheOpen Erabegan in 1968 when professional tennis players were allowed to compete for the first time at the Grand Slam tournament held at the West Side Tennis Club. The previous U.S. National Championships had been limited to amateur players. Except for mixed doubles,all events at the1968 national tournamentwere open to professionals. That year, 96 men and 63 women entered, and prize money totaled $100,000. In 1970, the US Open became the firstGrand Slamtournament to use atiebreakerto decide a set that reached a 6–6 score in games. From 1970 through 1974, the US Open used a best-of-nine-point sudden-death tiebreaker before moving to theInternational Tennis Federation's (ITF) best-of-twelve points system.In 1973, the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men and women, with that year's singles champions,John NewcombeandMargaret Court, receiving $25,000 each.Since 1975, following complaints about the surface and its impact on the ball's bounce, the tournament has been played on clay courts instead of grass. This was also an experiment to make it more "TV friendly". The addition of floodlights allowed matches to be played at night.
In 1978, the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club to the larger and newly constructedUSTA National Tennis CenterinFlushing Meadows, Queens, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the north. The tournament's court surface also switched fromclaytohardcourt.Jimmy Connorsis the only individual to have won US Open singles titles on all three surfaces (grass, clay, andhardcourt), whileChris Evertis the only woman to have won US Open singles titles on two surfaces (clay and hardcourt).
The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that has been played every year since its inception.
In 2005 the US Open added Wheelchair singles and Wheelchair doubles tournament, while in 2006 the US Open added the Quad singles and Quad doubles tournament. During the2006 US Open, the complex was renamed to "USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center" in honor ofBillie Jean King, a four-time US Open singles champion and one of women's tennis's early pioneers.
With the move to Flushing, the women's final was played between the two men's semi-finals on Saturday, creating a block that came to be known as "Super Saturday". While fan-friendly, the concept proved divisive among players because it gave them less than a day's rest between the semifinal and championship matches. A number of spectators also tended to leave after the women's final, and not stay for the second men's semifinal.
This ended in 2001, when the women's final was moved toprime timeto encourage television viewership, citing a major growth in popularity for women's tennis among viewers.This practice was eventually discontinued, and the women's final is currently played in the late afternoon.
For five consecutive tournaments between 2008 through 2012, the men's final was postponed to Monday due to weather. In 2013 and 2014, the USTA intentionally scheduled the men's final on a Monday—a move praised for allowing the men's players an extra day's rest following the semifinals, but drew the ire of the ATP for further deviating from the structure of the other Grand Slams.
In 2015, the US Open returned to a format similar to the other Grand Slams, with women's and men's finals on Saturday and Sunday, and players having an extra day of rest. However, weather delays forced both sets of semifinals to be held on Friday of that year.
In 2018, the tournament was the first Grand Slam tournament that introduced the shot clock to keep a check on the time consumed by players between points.The reason for this change was to increase the pace of play.The clock is placed in a position visible to players, the chair umpire and fans.Since 2020, all Grand Slams, ATP, and WTA tournaments apply this technology.
In 2019, the tournament marked the last time that five-time championRoger Federerparticipated.Rafael Nadalwon men's singles defeatingDaniil Medvedev.
In 2020, the event was heldwithout spectatorsdue to theCOVID-19 pandemic; theWestern & Southern Openwas also re-located from Cincinnati in order to create abio-secure bubblefor both events due to their proximity.An announcement that the wheelchair tennis competition would not be held caused controversy, because the USTA did not consult with athletes prior to it, as it had with the players' organizations for the able-bodied competitions. After accusations of discrimination, the USTA was forced to backtrack, admitting that it should have discussed the decision with the wheelchair competitors and offering them either $150,000 to be split between them (compared with $3.3m to be split between the players affected by the cancellation of each of the men's and women's qualifying competition and reductions in the mixed-doubles pool), a competition as part of the Open with 95% of the 2019 prize fund, or a competition to be held at the USTA base in Florida.
The grounds of the US Open have 22 outdoor courts (plus 12 practice courts just outside the East Gate) consisting of four "show courts" (Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium, the Grandstand, and Court 17), 13 field courts, and 5 practice courts.
The main court is the 23,771-seatArthur Ashe Stadium, which opened in 1997. A US$180 millionretractable roof was added in 2016.The stadium is named afterArthur Ashe, who won the men's singles title at the inaugural US Open in 1968, and was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Famein 1985. The next largest court is the 14,061-seatLouis Armstrong Stadium, which cost US$200 million to build and opened in 2018.The 6,400-seat lower tier of this stadium is separately ticketed, reserved seating while the 7,661-seat upper tier is general admission and not separately ticketed.The third largest court is the 8,125-seat Grandstand in the southwest corner of the grounds, which opened in 2016.Court 17 in the southeast corner of the grounds is the fourth largest stadium. It opened with temporary seating in 2011 and received its permanent seating the following year.It has a seating capacity of 2,800, all of which is general admission and not separately ticketed.It is nicknamed "The Pit", partly because the playing surface is sunk 8 feet into the ground.The total seating capacity for practice courts P1-P5 is 672 and for competition Courts 4–16 is 12,656, itemized as follows:
All the courts used by the US Open are illuminated, allowing matches and television coverage to extend into the evening.
From 1978 to 2019, the US Open was played on ahardcourtsurface called ProDecoTurf. It is a multi-layer cushioned surface and classified by theInternational Tennis Federationas medium-fast.Each August before the start of the tournament, the courts are resurfaced.In March 2020, the USTA announced thatLaykoldwould become the new court surface supplier beginning with the 2020 tournament.
Since 2005, all US Open and US Open Series tennis courts have been painted a shade of blue (trademarked as "US Open Blue") inside the lines to make it easier for players, spectators, and television viewers to see the ball.The area outside the lines is still painted "US Open Green".
In 2006, the US Open introducedinstant replayreviews of line calls, using theHawk-Eyecomputer system. It was the first Grand Slam tournament to use the system.The Open felt the need to implement the system because of the controversial quarterfinal match at the2004 US OpenbetweenSerena WilliamsandJennifer Capriati, where a number of important line calls went against Williams.  Replays on TV showed these calls were incorrect, including one critical point in the match that was incorrectly overruled by the chair umpire.Instant replay was available only on the Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium courts through the 2008 tournament. In 2009, it became available on the Grandstand court.In 2018, all competition courts were outfitted with Hawk-Eye, and all matches in the main draws (Men's and Women's Singles and Doubles) followed the same procedure, whereby each player was allowed three incorrect challenges per set, with one more given in a tiebreak. Player challenges were eliminated in 2021, when the tournament became the second Grand Slam to fully incorporate Hawk-Eye Live, where all line calls are made electronically; the previous year's tournament had also incorporated Hawk-Eye Live on all courts except for Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums to reduce personnel during theCOVID-19 pandemic.
In 2007,JPMorgan Chaserenewed its sponsorship of the US Open and, as part of the arrangement, the replay system was renamed to "Chase Review" on in-stadium video and television.
Ranking points for the men (ATP) and women (WTA) have varied at the US Open through the years. Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event:
The total prize money for the2023 US Openwas $65 million and is the largest package of all Grand Slams and the largest in tournament history. The package is divided as follows:
The men's and women's singles prize money ($44.7 million) accounts for 68.7 percent of total player base compensation, while men's and women's doubles ($7,133,600), men's and mixed doubles ($679,200) account for 11.0 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively. All prize money for the doubles competitions are distributed per team. The prize money for the wheelchair draw amounts to a total of $1,366,800, plus additional expenses, such as per diem and direct hotel payments of $4,656,420.
In 2012, the USTA agreed to increase the US Open prize money to $50.4 million by 2017. As a result, the prize money for the 2013 tournament was $33.6 million, a record $8.1 million increase from 2012. The champions of the 2013US Open Seriesalso had the opportunity to add $2.6 million in bonus prize money, potentially bringing the total 2013 US Open purse to more than $36 million.In 2014, the prize money was $38.3 million.In 2015, the prize money was increased to $42.3 million.In 2021, the USTA set a new record for the highest prize money and total player compensation in the tournament's history with $57,462,000 and also boosted the prize money for the qualifying tournament to $6 million, a 66% increase over the package in 2019.
The 2023 tournament saw another record, with total prize money reaching $65 million. Efforts were also undertaken to enhance support for participants across all events by implementing expanded player expense assistance measures. This iteration of the tournament introduced substantial changes in player per diem allowances, extending to all competitors. Notably, travel vouchers worth $1,000 have been newly introduced. Moreover, players can receive an additional hotel room or witness a twofold increase in their daily hotel allowance, which has been raised from $300 to $600, provided they choose alternate lodging. Additionally, an elevation in meal allowances and provision of racquet stringing services are also in effect for all participating players.
The US Open's website allows viewing of live streaming video, but unlike other Grand Slam tournaments, does not allow watching video on demand. The site also offers live radio coverage.
ESPNtook full control of televising the event in 2015. When taking over, ESPN ended 47 years of coverage produced and aired byCBS.ESPN uses ESPN,ESPN2, and ABC for broadcasts, while putting outer court coverage onESPN+.
Exceptions
Source
Sources: US Open,City University of New York (CUNY)