Last weekend’s Wimbledon tennis champions know there’s more than prestige on the line when it comes to playing for a Grand Slam title.
As Coins2Day previously reported, Wimbledon increased the total prize money it paid out to the top men and women players this year to more than $40 million. Now, the U.S. Open is following suit.
The U.S. Open, which will be played in New York later this summer, said on Tuesday that all of the top finishers at this year’s tournament will earn a combined $42.3 million — or, 10.5% more than the amount handed out last year. The tournament’s announcement noted that U.S. Open prize money has increased 67% over the last three years.
The men’s and women’s singles champions will each receive at least $3.3 million (with the possibility of additional bonus prize money), which is about $500,000 more than Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic took home this past weekend as the top singles players at Wimbledon. Other players in the tournament will receive smaller paydays that get increasingly larger the farther they make it in the tournament.
“We continue our commitment to ensure that the US Open offers one of the most lucrative purses in all of sports,” USTA President and U.S. Open chair Katrina Adams said in a statement. Total player compensation is expected to reach $50 million by 2017.
Three years ago, USTA signed a $90 million, seven-year sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines, making the carrier the title sponsor of the U.S. Open Series.