US Open tennis 2017: Dates, venue and prize money
The US Open is the fourth and final open of the tennis season, so when and where will it be held in 2017, and what kind of coin is on offer?
Dates
The tournament begins with the Qualifying Tournament, from Tuesday, August 22, through to Friday, August 25.
The real thing kicks off the following Monday, August 28, which for Australian audiences will be the early hours of Tuesday, August 29 (AEST).
In terms of the pointy end of proceedings, the women’s final is set to start at 4pm, Saturday September 9 (EST), which for Aussies means 6am, Sunday September 7 (AEST).
As for the men’s final, it will begin at 4pm (EST) the following day, so means another 6am start in Australia, this time on Monday, September 8 (AEST).
Venue
As has been the case every year since 1978, the US Open will be held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, in Flushing, Queens, New York.
Since the Open era began in 1968, the tournament has always been held in Queens, although for the first ten years the venue of choice was the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills.
Prize money
In 1973, the US Open became the first of tennis’ four Grand Slams to award equal prize money to men and women – as an aside, two Aussies were the winners that year, as Margaret Smith Court and John Newcombe each returned home with $25,000 for winning their respective finals.
This year, the total prize pool tops out at over $US50 million, claiming the title of richest purse in tennis history.
The champions of the singles titles will each earn $US3.7 million, the runners-up taking $1.825 million, while a first-round loser earns the none-too-shabby sum of $50,000.
Singles
Winner: $3,700,000
Runner-Up: $1,825,000
Semifinalist: $920,000
Quarterfinalist: $470,000
Round of 16: $253,625
Round of 32: $144,000
Round of 64: $86,000
Round of 128: $50,000
Doubles
Winner: $675,000
Runner-Up: $340,000
Semifinalist: $160,000
Quarterfinalist: $82,000
Round of 16: $44,000
Round of 32: $26,500
Round of 64: $16,500
