All About The US Open

Previously known as the United States Open Tennis Championships, the U.S. Open is one of the four significant events that complete the annual Grand Slam.

Us Open Tennis is held each year in late August and early September for over two weeks. It comprises of championships in five main categories: men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. What makes this tournament is that the tiebreakers are played in the deciding sets (the fifth set for men and the third set for women).

Grounds

The central court of US Open Tennis is the 23,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, opened in 1997. Seconding that is the 14,000-seater Louis Armstrong Stadium. The third is the 8,000-seater Grandstand in the southwest corner of the grounds. Situated in the southeast corner of the grounds Court 17 is the fourth largest stadium. Its seating capacity is of 2,800 people. All courts are illuminated so that the fun may not be hindered by night.

By the way, Court 17 is actually nicknamed — The Pit, because the playing surface is sunk 8 feet (2.44 m) into the ground.

Since 1978, all the U.S. Open championships have been played on the acrylic hard courts called Pro DecoTurf. It is a multi-layer cushioned surface classified by the International Tennis Federation as medium-fast.

Since 2005, the lines have been painted with a shade of blue to make it easier to see the ball.

Prize Money

Now comes the most exciting part. The total prize money for US Open Tennis amounts to US$53 million. Of that, US$50,565,840 is for compensation of the player base. The prize money of US$40,912,000, of the men’s and women’s singles, accounts for 80.9 % of total player base compensation. The men’s and women’s doubles (US$6,140,840) account for 12.1 percent. Men’s and women’s singles qualify (US$3,008,000) make up 5.9 percent. And lastly, mixed doubles (US$505,000) contribute to 1.0 percent. The wheelchair draw prize money is US$350,000. The winners in the singles category, receive US$31,200.  The champion of the quad singles receives US$23,400.

Top-Ranked Players

Novak Djokovic won the men’s singles title in 2018. This was his third singles title in the US Open and fourteenth Grand Slam singles title.

Naomi Osaka won the women’s singles title. This was her first Grand Slam title. This made her the first Japanese to win the Grand Slam singles title

Mike Bryan was part of the winning men’s doubles team in 2018. This was his seventh US Open Tennis title. It was his eighteenth Grand Slam Men’s Doubles title and twenty-second Grand Slam title overall.

CoCo Vandeweghe was part of the team which won the women’s doubles in 2018. This was her first Grand Slam doubles title.