US Open (tennis)

Coordinates: 40°44′59.26″N 73°50′45.91″W / 40.7497944°N 73.8460861°W

US Open

Official website
Founded	1881
Editions	135 (2015)
Location	New York City, New York, United States
Venue	USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Surface	Grass - outdoors (1881–1974) Clay - outdoors (1975–1977) Hard (DecoTurf[1]) - outdoors (1978–present)
Prize money	$ 42,253,400 (2015)
Men's
Draw	128S / 128Q / 64D
Current champions	Novak Djokovic (singles) Pierre-Hugues Herbert / Nicolas Mahut (doubles)
Most singles titles	7 Richard Sears Bill Larned Bill Tilden
Most doubles titles	6 Richard Sears Holcombe Ward
Women's
Draw	128S / 128Q / 64D
Current champions	Flavia Pennetta (singles) Martina Hingis / Sania Mirza (doubles)
Most singles titles	8 Molla Bjurstedt Mallory
Most doubles titles	13 Margaret Osborne duPont
Mixed Doubles
Draw	32
Current champions	Leander Paes / Martina Hingis
Most titles (male)	4 Bill Tilden Bill Talbert Bob Bryan
Most titles (female)	8 Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Court
Grand Slam
Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open
Last Completed
2015 US Open

The United States Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern version of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, for which men's singles was first contested in 1881. Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final tennis major comprising the Grand Slam each year; the other three are the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon.

The US Open is held annually, starting on the last Monday in August, and lasting for two weeks into September, with the middle weekend coinciding with the Labor Day holiday. The main tournament consists of five event championships: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, with additional tournaments for senior, junior, and wheelchair players. Since 1978, the tournament has been played on acrylic hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City. The US Open is owned and organized by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), a not-for-profit organization. Net proceeds from ticket sales are used to promote the development of tennis in the United States.

The US Open is the only major that employs tiebreakers in every set of a match. If a match reaches a 6–6 tie in the final set (third set for women, fifth set for men) at the Australian Open, the French Open, or Wimbledon, the match continues until one player wins by two games. The sets played before the last set always employ tiebreakers.

History

Newport Casino Tennis Court

Newport Casino

The tournament was first held in August 1881 on the grass courts at the Newport Casino, Newport, Rhode Island and in that first year only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) were permitted to enter.^[2] The first edition was won by Richard Sears, who went on to win seven consecutive singles titles.^[3] From 1884 through 1911, the tournament used a challenge system whereby the defending champion automatically qualified for the next year's final in which he would play the winner of the all-comers tournament. In 1915 the national championship was relocated from Newport, Rhode Island to the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills, New York; as early as 1911 an effort was made by a group of tennis players, headed by Karl Behr from New York, to relocate the tournament to New York.^[4]

West Side Tennis Club

In early 1915 the issue resurfaced when a group of about 100 tennis players signed a petition in favor of the move, arguing that most tennis clubs, players and fans were located in the New York area and that it would therefore be beneficial for the development of the sport to host the national championship there.^[5] This view was opposed by another group of players which included eight former national singles champions.^[6][7] The contentious issue was brought to a vote at the annual USNLTA meeting on February 5, 1915 and with 128 votes in favor and 119 against it was decided to relocate.^[8][9][10]

From 1921 through 1923, the tournament was played at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia.^[11] It returned to Forest Hills in 1924 following the completion of the newly constructed 14,000 seat concrete Forest Hills Stadium.^[12] Though regarded unofficially by many as a major championship beforehand, the tournament was officially designated as one of the major tournaments by the ILTF commencing in 1924.

In the first few years of the United States National Championship only men competed and the tournament was known as the US National Singles Championships for Men. Six years after the men's nationals were first held, the first official U.S. Women's National Singles Championship was held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club in 1887, won by 17-year-old Philadelphian Ellen Hansell, accompanied by the U.S. Women's National Doubles Championship (not held for the next two years) and U.S. Mixed Doubles Championship (not held in 1899). The women's tournament used a challenge system from 1888 through 1918, except in 1917. Between 1890 and 1906 sectional tournaments were held in the east and the west of the country to determine the best two doubles teams, which competed in a play-off to see who would play the defending champions in the challenge round.^[12]

The open era began in 1968 when all five events were merged into the US Open, held at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills. The 1968 combined tournament was open to professionals for the first time. That year, 96 men and 63 women entered the event, and prize money totaled $100,000.

In 1970, the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to use a tiebreak to decide a set that reached a 6–6 score in games and is the only major to use a tiebreak in the deciding set; the other three grand slams play out the deciding set until a two-game margin is achieved. From 1970 to 1974 the US Open used a best-of-nine point, sudden death tiebreaker before moving to the ITF best-of-twelve point system.^[3]

In 1973 the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men and women with that year's singles champions John Newcombe and Margaret Court both receiving $25,000.^[3] Another US Open innovation came in 1975 when floodlights enabled night play for the first time.

USTA National Tennis Center

In 1978 the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, Queens to the larger USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, in the process switching the surface from clay, used in the last three years at Forest Hills, to hard courts. Jimmy Connors is the only individual to have won US Open singles titles on all three surfaces (grass, clay, hardcourt), while Chris Evert is the only woman to win on two surfaces (clay, hardcourt).^[3]

The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that has been played every year since its inception.^[13]

From 1984 through 2015, the U.S. Open deviated from traditional scheduling practices for tennis tournaments with a concept that came to be known as "Super Saturday", in which the Women's final was held on Saturday, in between the two Men's semi-finals. The men's final was held the next day, on Sunday. While intended to help build a television audience, this scheduling pattern proved divisive, as the men's and women's semifinals were held on the day prior to their respective finals, thus only giving players less than a day's rest before the final.^[14][15] For five consecutive tournaments between 2007 through 2012, the Men's final had been postponed to Monday due to weather. The USTA decided to intentionally schedule the Men's final on Monday in 2013 and 2014, although this move drew the ire of the ATP for further deviating from the structure of the other Grand Slams.^[16][14]

Beginning in 2015, the tournament has restored a traditional scheduling pattern, with the Men's final played on a Sunday; however, weather delays forced both sets of semi-finals to be held on Friday that year.^[17][15]

Player challenges of line calls

In 2006, the US Open introduced instant replay reviews of calls, using the Hawk-Eye computer system sponsored by Chase. According to many experts, the system was implemented due to a highly controversial quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open between Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati, where many important line calls went against Williams.^[18] Each player is allowed three challenges per set plus one additional challenge during a tiebreak. The player keeps all existing challenges if the challenge is successful. If the challenge is unsuccessful and the original ruling is upheld, the player loses a challenge. Instant replay was initially available only on the stadium courts (Ashe and Armstrong), until 2009 when it became available on the Grandstand as well.

Once a challenge is made, the official review (a 3-D computer simulation based on multiple high-speed video cameras) is shown to the players, umpires, and audience on the stadium video boards and to the television audience at the same time. During the 2011 US Open, 29.78% of men's challenges and 30.2% of women's challenges were correct.^[19]

In 2007, JP Morgan Chase renewed its sponsorship of the US Open. As part of its sponsorship arrangement, Chase renamed the tournament's replay system the "Chase Review" on in-stadium video and television.^[20]

Grounds

Arthur Ashe stadium

The DecoTurf surface at the US Open is a fast surface, having slightly less friction and producing a lower bounce compared to other hard courts (most notably the Rebound Ace surface formerly used at the Australian Open). For this reason, many serve-and-volley players have found success at the US Open.

The main court is the 22,547-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, opened in 1997. It is named after Arthur Ashe, the African American tennis player who won the men's final of the inaugural US Open in 1968. The next largest court is the Louis Armstrong Stadium, opened in 1978, extensively renovated from the Singer Bowl, which was built for the 1964 New York World's Fair. It was the main stadium from 1978 to 1996. Its peak capacity neared 18,000 seats, but was reduced to 10,200 by the removal of the upper tiers of seating after the opening of Arthur Ashe Stadium.^[21] The third largest court is the 6,000-seat Grandstand, created when the rectangular Singer Bowl was transformed into the square Armstrong Stadium, leaving about a third of the Bowl available to become another venue.

In 2011, Court 17 was opened as a fourth show court, with large television screens and electronic line calling which allows player challenges. Sunken into the ground, it has been nicknamed "The Pit". It initially held 2,500 with temporary stands, but will allow over 3,000 fans after its completion in 2012. It is located in the southeast corner of the grounds.^[22] Sidecourts 4, 7, and 11 each have a seating capacity of over 1,000.

All the courts used by the US Open are illuminated, meaning that television coverage of the tournament can extend into prime time to attract higher ratings. This has recently been used to the advantage of USA Network—and now, ESPN2—on cable and especially for CBS, the American broadcast television outlet for the tournament for many years, which used its influence to move the women's singles final to Saturday night to draw better television ratings.

In 2005, all US Open and US Open Series, tennis courts were given blue inner courts to make it easier to see the ball on television; the outer courts remained green.^[23]

During the 2006 US Open, the complex was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in honor of four-time tournament champion and women's tennis pioneer Billie Jean King.

Recent attendances

2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
713,642	713,026	710,803	658,664	712,976	721,059	720,227	715,587	640,000	659,538	631,870

Sources: US Open,^[24] City University of New York (CUNY)^[25]

Prize money

The total prize money for the 2013 US Open championships is $34,252,000 (in US dollars) which represents an increase of about ten million dollars compared to the 2012 edition.^[26] The prize money is divided as follows:^[27]

Event		W	F	SF	QF	4R	3R	2R	1R	Q3	Q2	Q1	Total
Singles	128 Draw	$1,900,000	$950,000	$475,000	$237,500	$120,000	$65,000	$37,000	$23,000	$8,638	$5,775	$3,000	$9,406,000
Doubles^*	64 Draw	$420,000	$210,000	$105,000	$50,000	-	$26,000	$16,000	$11,000	-	-	-	$3,712,000
Mixed Doubles^*	32 Draw	$150,000	$70,000	$30,000	$15,000	-	-	$10,000	$5,000	-	-	-	$500,000

_{* per team}

In addition to the championship prize money an amount of $410,000 was available for the Champions Invitational and $1,272,000 for player per diem bringing the total player compensation to $25,526,000.^[27]

The US Open has made a five-year agreement to increase the total prize money to about $50,000,000 by 2017. As a result, the total base prize money for the 2013 tournament has been increased to $33.6 million which is a record $8.1 million increase from 2012. The champions of the 2013 Emirates Airline US Open Series will also have the opportunity to add $2.6 million in bonus prize money, potentially bringing the total 2013 US Open purse to more than $36 million.^[28] In 2014 the total base prize money was $38.3 million.^[29] In 2015 the prize money will be raised to $42.3 million.^[30]

Ranking points

Ranking points for the men (ATP) and women (WTA) have varied at the US Open through the years but presently singles players receive the following points:

Event		W	F	SF	QF	4R	3R	2R	1R
Singles	Men	2000	1200	720	360	180	90	45	10
	Women[31]	2000	1300	780	430	240	130	70	10
Doubles	Men	2000	1200	720	360	180	90	0	–
	Women	2000	1300	780	430	240	130	10	–

Champions

Past champions

• Men's Singles
• Women's Singles
• Men's Doubles
• Women's Doubles
• Mixed Doubles

Current champions

• 

  Novak Djokovic was the winner of the Men's Singles in 2015. It was his tenth Major Singles title and his second title at the US Open.

• 

  Flavia Pennetta was the winner of the Women's Singles in 2015. It was her first Major Singles title.

• 

  Pierre-Hugues Herbert was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2015. It was his first Major Men's Doubles title.

• 

  Nicolas Mahut was part of the winning Men's Doubles team in 2015. It was his first Major Men's Doubles title.

• 

  Martina Hingis was part of both the winning Women's Doubles and Mixed Doubles teams in 2015. These were her eleventh Major Women's Doubles title and her fourth Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles, giving her second and third Doubles titles at the US Open.

• 

  Sania Mirza was part of the winning Women's Doubles team in 2015. It was her second Grand Slam Doubles title and her second Doubles title at the US Open.

• 

  Leander Paes was part of the winning Mixed Doubles team in 2015. It was his eighth Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title and his second Doubles title at the US Open.

Event	Champion	Runner-up	Score
Men's Singles final	Novak Djokovic	Roger Federer	6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4
Women's Singles final	Flavia Pennetta	Roberta Vinci	7–6^(7–4), 6–2
Men's Doubles final	Pierre-Hugues Herbert Nicolas Mahut	Jamie Murray John Peers	6–4, 6–4
Women's Doubles final	Martina Hingis Sania Mirza	Casey Dellacqua Yaroslava Shvedova	6–3, 6–3
Mixed Doubles final	Martina Hingis Leander Paes	Bethanie Mattek-Sands Sam Querrey	6–4, 3–6, [10–7]

Records

Record	Era	Player(s)	Count	Years
Men since 1881
Winner of most Men's Singles titles	Before 1968:	Richard Sears Bill Larned Bill Tilden	7	1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887 1901, 1902, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1929
	After 1967:	Jimmy Connors Pete Sampras Roger Federer	5	1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2002 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Winner of most consecutive Men's Singles titles	Before 1968:	Richard Sears	7	1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887
	After 1967:	Roger Federer	5	2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Winner of most Men's Doubles titles	Before 1968:	Richard Sears Holcombe Ward	6	1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887 1899, 1900, 1901, 1904, 1905, 1906
	After 1967:	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	5	2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014
Winner of most consecutive Men's Doubles titles	Before 1968:	Richard Sears	6	1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887
	After 1967:	Todd Woodbridge Mark Woodforde	2	1995, 1996 1995, 1996
Winner of most Mixed Doubles titles - Men	Before 1968:	Bill Tilden Bill Talbert	4	1913, 1914, 1922, 1923 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946
	After 1967:	Bob Bryan	4	2003, 2004, 2006, 2010
Winner of most Championships (total: singles, men's doubles, mixed doubles) - Men	Before 1968:	Bill Tilden	16	1913–1929 (7 singles, 5 men's doubles, 4 mixed doubles)
	After 1967:	Bob Bryan	9	2003–2014 (5 men's doubles, 4 mixed doubles)
Women since 1887
Winner of most Women's Singles titles	Before 1968:	/ Molla Bjurstedt Mallory	8	1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1926
	After 1967:	Chris Evert Serena Williams	6	1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
Winner of most consecutive Women's Singles titles	Before 1968:	/ Molla Bjurstedt Mallory Helen Jacobs	4	1915, 1916, 1917, 1918 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935
	After 1967:	Chris Evert	4	1975, 1976, 1977, 1978
Winner of most Women's Doubles titles	Before 1968:	Margaret Osborne duPont	13	1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1957
	After 1967:	Martina Navratilova	9	1977, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990
Winner of most consecutive Women's Doubles titles	Before 1968:	Margaret Osborne duPont	10	1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950
	After 1967:	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	3	2002, 2003, 2004 2002, 2003, 2004
Winner of most Mixed Doubles titles - Women	All-time:	Margaret Osborne duPont Margaret Court	8	1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1950, 1958, 1959, 1960 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972
	Before 1968:	Margaret Osborne duPont	8	1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1950, 1958, 1959, 1960
	After 1967:	Margaret Court Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova	3	1969, 1970, 1972 1971, 1973, 1976 1985, 1987, 2006
Winner of most Championships (total: singles, women's doubles, mixed doubles) - women	All-time:	Margaret Osborne duPont	25	1941–1960 (3 singles, 13 women's doubles, 9 mixed doubles)
	Before 1968:	Margaret Osborne duPont	25	1941–1960 (3 singles, 13 women's doubles, 9 mixed doubles)
	After 1967:	Martina Navratilova	16	1977–2006 (4 singles, 9 women's doubles, 3 mixed doubles)
Miscellaneous
Youngest winner(single)	Men:	Pete Sampras	19 years and 1 month[32]
	Women:	Tracy Austin	16 years and 8 months[32]
Oldest winner(single)	Men:	William Larned	38 years and 8 months[32]
	Women:	Molla Bjurstedt Mallory	42 years and 5 months[32]

Media coverage

• The US Open's website allows viewing of live streaming video, but unlike other major tournaments does not allow watching video on demand. The site also offers live radio coverage.
• United States: ESPN, and the Tennis Channel. In 2015, ESPN took full control of televising the event, ending CBS's 47-year span of coverage.^[33]
• Belgium: public broadcasters Eén, Canvas and commercial channel Eurosport
• Brazil: SporTV and ESPN
• Canada: TSN, RDS
• Germany: Eurosport 360 HD covers up to five multichannel feeds only available on SKY Germany
• Middle East and North Africa: beIN Sports
• India and Pakistan: Ten Sports
• Japan: WOWOW since 1992
• South Korea: XTM since 2012
• Mexico: Televisa Deportes cable network
• The Netherlands and Germany: Eurosport and Eurosport 2
• Philippines: ABS-CBN Sports+Action
• Portugal and Spain : Eurosport
• Russia: NTV Plus and Eurosport
• United Kingdom: – Sky Sports with red button service of all six TV courts and Eurosport

See also

• US Open Series

References

1. DecoTurf Tournaments
2. "National Lawn-Tennis Tournament" (PDF). The New York Times. July 14, 1881. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
3. Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 10, 452, 454. ISBN 978-0942257700.
4. "Tennis Tournament at Newport Again" (PDF). The New York Times. February 4, 1911. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
5. "Newport May Lose Tennis Tourney" (PDF). The New York Times. January 17, 1915. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
6. "Want Newport for Tennis Tourney" (PDF). The New York Times. January 18, 1915. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
7. "A Tennis "Solar Plexus`"" (PDF). The New York Times. January 23, 1915. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
8. "Tourney Goes to New York". Boston Evening Transcript. February 6, 1915. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
9. "'All-Comers' Tourney to be Restricted" (PDF). The New York Times. February 7, 1915. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
10. "Newport Loses Tennis Tourney" (PDF). The New York Times. February 6, 1915. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
11. "Germantown Cricket Club History". Germantown Cricket Club. Retrieved December 15, 2013.
12. Shannon, Bill (1981). United States Tennis Association Official Encyclopedia of Tennis (Centennial edition). NY: Harper & Row. pp. 237–249. ISBN 0-06-014896-9.
13. "Grand Slams – US Open". ITF. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
14. "ATP blasts US Open over Monday final". ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
15. "Traditional US Open scheduling favors Federer". ESPN.com. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
16. "US Open schedules Monday finish". ESPN.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
17. "U.S. Open schedule: How to watch semifinal matches". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
19. "Player Challenges". US Open official website.
20. Kaplan, Daniel. "Chase signs mega renewal with Open." Sports Business Journal, August 20, 2007; retrieved November 27, 2010.
21. "Ashe & Armstrong Stadiums". USTA. May 25, 2008. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
22. Robson, Douglas. "New show court draws a crowd, quietly" USA Today (August 29, 2011)
23. "Courting Victory on Any Surface". USTA. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
24. "US Open History – Year-by-Year". United States Tennis Association (USTA).
25. "U.S. Open Tennis - Total Attendance (By Year)". www.baruch.cuny.edu. City University of New York.
26. "US Open Prize Money Increases Announced". ATP Tour. July 12, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
27. "US Open Prize Money". USTA. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
28. "US Open makes long-term commitment to the game". US open. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
29. "2014 US Open Prize Money" US Open
30. "US prize money upped" DPA International, 14th of July 2014.
31. http://www.wtatennis.com/all-about-rankings
32. "Youngest and oldest champions". US Open Org. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
33. "ESPN to Gain Full Rights to U.S. Open in 2015". NY Times. Retrieved May 17, 2013.

External links

• Media related to US Open (tennis) at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website