US Open player compensation rises to a record $75 million, with singles champs getting $3.6 million

Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and other US Open players will play for a record $75 million in compensation at the tournament of the year last Grand Slam tennis tournamentan increase of about 15% compared to a year ago.

The US Tennis Federation announced on Wednesday that the women’s and men’s singles champions will each receive $3.6 million.

The total compensation, which includes money to cover players’ expenses, increases by $10 million from $65 million in 2023 and was touted by the USTA as “the largest purse in tennis history.”

The full compensation will put the US Open ahead of the sport’s other three major championships in 2024. Based on exchange rates at the time of the events, Wimbledon offered about $64 million in prize money, while the French Open and Australian Open both offered about $58 million.

The champions’ checks will increase by 20% from last year’s $3 million, but the amount remains below the $3.85 million salary each winner received in 2019 before the pandemic.

Last year at Flushing Meadows, Gauff won her first Grand Slam titleAnd Djokovic achieved his 24thimproving his record for most wins in tennis history.

The main singles tournament begins on August 26 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and concludes with the women’s final on September 7 and the men’s final on September 8.

There are increases in each round of the main tournament and during the qualifiers.

Players who advance from the 128-player pool in the first round of the women’s and men’s singles main events will each receive $100,000 for the first time, up from $81,500 in 2023 and $58,000 in 2019.

In doubles, the champions receive $750,000 per team, up from $700,000 a year ago.

There will be no wheelchair competition at Flushing Meadows this year because the dates of the Paris Paralympic Games overlap with the US Open. Therefore, the USTA is giving player scholarships to players who would have been in the US Open field through direct entry.

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An earlier version of this story revised the headline’s total compensation amount to $75 million and the 2019 winners’ salaries to $3.85 million.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis