Purse for U.S. Open: How Much Tennis Players Will Make at the 2023 Grand Slam
As one of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments, the U.S. Open doesn’t have to do much to retain its sense of prestige among tennis players and fans. But it always helps when athletes receive better compensation for their hard work.
The prize money for the U.S. Open has reached record levels in 2023, setting a new standard among the biggest competitions for how much players earn for their play. Here’s all we know about the purse for the U.S. Open:
Purse for U.S. Open
As ESPN reports, the 2023 U.S. Open will feature total prize money of $65 million — a $5 million raise from last year’s total payout. This increase is the latest example of the tournament’s legacy of progressive changes that benefit the players. Fifty years ago, the Open became the sport’s first event to pay men and women equally for their play.
Both singles champions will get $3 million for winning the U.S. Open. This is about a 15% increase from last year’s sum ($2.6 million). However, it’s still below the pre-pandemic amount that gave champions $3.9 million in 2019.
It’s not just the winners who earn a better paycheck. Players who lost in the first round will now receive $81,500. That’s only a $1,000 bump from last year but nearly a 30% increase from 2019’s $58,000 prize money. Doubles winners will now get $700,000 per team, rising from $688,000 in 2022.
U.S. Open expenses for tennis players
The U.S. Tennis Association is also increasing the amount of expenses covered for men and women in qualifying and main-draw singles, doubles, mixed doubles, and wheelchair events.
For the first time, competitors will receive $1,000 travel vouchers. They will also have the choice of getting a second room in an official tournament hotel or a daily $600 stipend to use for other housing. (The previous amount was $300.) Lastly, the USTA is increasing meal allowances and covering racket stringing.
This expansion of compensation is a significant difference between the previous U.S. Open and this year’s edition. If you subtract the expenses from the total amount being paid to players, the prize money based on results at the US Open is about $60 million, which is the most of any Grand Slam tournament this year.
The singles tournament of the 2023 U.S. Open begins on Aug. 28 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The women’s final will occur on September 10, and the men’s final will occur on September 11. The doubles tournament begins on August 30, and the finals for each category are littered throughout the final weekend of September 8-10.
Grand Slam tournament winnings
The other Grand Slam tournaments have some catching up to do regarding winnings. Wimbledon and the French Open, in particular, were the last organizations to pay male and female players equally. But each competition is making strides to give players more money.
For 2023 Wimbledon, the All England Club raised the prize money to about $56.5 million, a record for the tournament and an 11.2% increase from last year. Carlos Alcaraz and Markéta Vondroušová, the winners of the men’s and women’s singles events, received just over $2.7 million for their victory, a 17.5% raise on what previous champions Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina got in 2022. On the other end of the spectrum, winnings in the qualifiers are up 15%, and first-round participants earn 10% more than they did last year.
For the 2023 French Open, the total prize purse increased by 12.3% to about $54 million, with earnings rising across the board for every category and event, according to the tournament’s official website.
The Australian Open has also raised payouts for its events, albeit on a smaller scale. The total prize pool amounts to about $53 million, with every round of competition seeing a 2-3% increase in payments.
