The U.S. Open Prize Money Is a Record-Breaking $57 Million
The U.S. Open is one of four Grand Slam tournaments on the tennis calendar each year. The competition attracts the top players who compete for the notoriety of a Grand Slam — and the big prize money. The total purse at this year’s event is record-breaking, so how much exactly will the athletes compete for? Let’s find out.
A record-breaking purse
The total prize money at the 2019 U.S. Open is the most in tennis history. The competitors will play to earn their share of a $57 million pool. The United States Tennis Association (USTA) worked with both the ATP and WTA tours to determine the specific round-by-round amounts. The values they chose will result in each round’s payout being a Grand Slam tournament record.
Millions going to the winners
The payouts start out at $58,000 for first-round singles matches, and the money only goes up from there. The teams that win the men’s and women’s doubles events will each take home $740,000. While that’s impressive, it pales in comparison to the singles champions’ earnings.
For both the men’s and women’s tournaments, the champion will win $3.85 million. All of those amounts are the highest payouts in U.S. Open history. The money doesn’t end there. The USTA announced it will also make a $500,000 payment to support both the ATP and WTA player programs, including pensions.
Compared to previous years
We know this year’s purse is the biggest in tournament history, but how does it compare to recent years?
2018 U.S. Open
The total prize money was $53 million in 2018, or about 7% less than this year. The first-round matches were worth $54,000. The money went up to $3.8 million to each of the singles champions, with $700,000 going to each of the doubles champions. Beneficiaries included Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka, who won the men’s and women’s events, respectively.
2017 U.S. Open
Two years ago, the competitors fought for their piece of a pie totaling $50.4 million. Of that, $50,000 went to first-round winners. Singles champions, Rafael Nadal and Sloane Stephens, took home $3.7 million each. Doubles winners received $675,000.
2016 U.S. Open
Three years ago, $46.3 million was on the line in the final tennis major of the year. The breakdown began with $43,313 in the first round. The singles champs each won $3.5 million. And $625,000 went to the doubles winners. Stan Wawrinka became a multimillionaire by winning the men’s tournament, and Angelique Kerber won the women’s competition.
Since 2016, the prize money has risen each year. The winner’s purse, however, is growing at a slower rate than it did the last few years. After going up by $100,000 each year from 2016 to 2018, the increase for 2019’s tournament is just $50,000 more than in 2018. Even with the smaller increase, we don’t think the singles champion will complain about leaving Queens, New York with an additional $3.85 million in their bank accounts.
