U.S. Open tennis to offer record prize money in 2018
Singles champions at the U.S. Open tennis tournament will leave New York in September with a fatter wallet than last year’s victors.
Winners of the men’s and women’s brackets will each earn $3.8 million, an increase of $100,000 from 2017, according to the United States Tennis Association.
Total prize money across all the divisions will total a record $53 million.
The runners-up in the singles divisions will each receive $1.85 million. The winning teams in both men’s and women’s doubles will share $700,000, according to the USTA.
In 1973, this tournament became the first to offer equal prize money to male and female competitors, the organization said.
Rafael Nadal holds up the championship trophy after beating Kevin Anderson in the men's singles final of the 2017 U.S. Open.
The total $53 million purse for the 2018 US Open is more than a 5 percent increase on the $50.4 million offered in 2017. Prize money at the U.S. Open has increased by 57 percent since 2013, the USTA said.
Last year’s singles champions won $3.7 million apiece, and the tournament’s full payout for all events was a then-record $50.4 million.
The tournament is scheduled to run Aug. 27-Sept. 9 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. This year marks the tournament’s 50th anniversary.
