US Tennis Open Winners
Posted on March 28, 2009
Filed Under Tennis
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.
Like the rest of the Grand Slam, the US Open is a prestigious event; while there is no royalty in attendance as at Wimbledon, the tournament draws thousands of people from all over the world. The players compete for over $20 million in prizes, with the purses being larger than in the other Grand Slam tournaments. There are more than 600 players in each year’s tournament.
The US Open is held in New York City, at the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, home of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Unlike Wimbledon, the events are held on an acrylic court rather than grass.
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.
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.

