The Top US Tennis Open Winners
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 atypical for the Grand Slam in that the winners in these events are the winners of the final set’s tie break instead of the best of 5 sets (in Men’s) or best of 3 sets (Women’s) used in Wimbledon.
Even though it does not draw the crowned heads that one may see at Wimbledon, this is a tournament with a lot of prestige attached and the event draws thousands of spectators from every part of the world as well as many locals. With more than $20 million in prize money awarded in this tournament, it’s easy to see why over 600 players compete in this tournament each year.
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.
Since there is more prize money to be won, many players aspire to compete in this tournament. There is a $1.5 million prize for the winners of the main events, with half that amount going to the runner up. Semifinalists are awarded $320,000, quarterfinalists half of this and so on. There are many prizes to be won even by those players who leave without a trophy.
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.
With so much to be won and the prestige of competing in a Grand Slam tournament, professional tennis players are always interested in this tournament. There are prizes given to the winners in many different events, giving players a much better chance to go home with a prize than in other tournaments; this generates a lot of excitement among fans as well, which makes this tournament incredibly popular year after year.