One of the world’s oldest (and largest) tennis tournaments, the US Open has been held annually since 1881. This is the fourth and final tournament of the Grand Slam tour and is held beginning in late August and concluding in early September. There are championship events in the following categories which are held at the US Open: Men’s and Women’s Singles, Men’s and Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles. IN addition, the tournament features Seniors, Juniors and wheelchair events.
The US Open is different from the other tournaments in the Grand Slam like the Wimbledon. The US Tennis Open winners are determined by the person that wins the final set tie breaks. In the other tournaments the winners are determined by whoever wins by two games starting at the fifth set for the men and the third set for the women.
The event of the US Open is considered to be a high society event. The Wimbledon brings in the Queen of England or the leader of South Wales. Although royalty is not attending this event it is still held up high and gives more than $19 million dollars in prize money to the US Tennis Open winners, which is much more than other events. This tournament includes more than 600 players and gives many people the opportunity to be a winner.
The tournament is held in New York City at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center located at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. The events in this tournament are held on acrylic courts instead of grass as at Wimbledon.
With so much money in prizes to go around, there is intense competition and a great deal of interest on the part of players in entering the tournament. Winners of the championship events receive a whopping $1.5 million, with half as much going to runners-up, $320,000 to the semifinalists and half of this amount to quarterfinalists. There are smaller cash prizes as one goes on down the line. Even players who get nowhere near to capturing a championship still stand a chance of winning substantial prizes in the US Open.
US Open winners in doubles events also receive large cash prizes. Doubles winners split a total of $1.8 million. There is also half a million dollars in prize money to be won in the mixed doubles. The qualifying 128 draw events for both men and women pay up to one million – in total, there is over $20 million dollars in prize money to be won in this tournament.
Since there is simply so much prize money to go around, quite a few players go home with heavier wallets than is the case in other Grand Slam tournaments. Cash prizes are awarded to winning players in a large number of different events, making the US Open a perennial favorite with tennis fans and players alike, even in the rarified climate of the Grand Slam tour.