SINGLES champions at the upcoming U.S. Open tennis tournament will leave New York in September, with a fatter wallet than last year’s victors.

Winners of the men’s and women’s brackets will each earn 3.8 million dollars, an increase of 100,000 dollars from 2017, according to the United States Tennis Association. Total prize money across all the divisions will total a record 53 million dollars.

The runners-up in the singles divisions will each receive 1.85 million dollars. The winning teams in both men’s and women’s doubles will share 700,000 dollars, according to the USTA.

In 1973, this tournament became the first to offer equal prize money to male and female competitors, the organisation said.

The total 53 million dollar purse for the 2018 US Open is more than a 5 per cent increase on the 50.4 million dollars offered in 2017.

Prize money at the U.S. Open has increased by 57 per cent since 2013, the USTA said.

The tournament is scheduled to run from Aug. 27 to Sept. 9 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

This year marks the tournament’s 50th anniversary. (Reuters/NAN)

Jul. 18, 2018 @ 12:19 GMT |