Aug 20 (Reuters) - The U.S. Open will hand out $108 million in prize money at this year's final Grand Slam, it said on Thursday, marking the largest purse in tennis history and one that could spare the tournament from protests over player compensation.
The men's and women's singles champions at the August 23 to September 13 major in New York will earn $5.5 million each, which marks a 10% increase from last year and is the largest Grand Slam payment in history for a main draw singles champion.
The compensation package also includes what the U.S. Tennis Association said is a Grand Slam record for first-round payouts, which this year will increase 27% to $140,000.
Players have been demanding a larger slice of the revenue from the Grand Slams in line with what they receive at ATP and WTA events.
Top players led by Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka limited their pre-tournament media availabilities at the French Open and Wimbledon this year to 15 minutes as part of a protest to demand a higher percentage of tournament revenue for prize money.
The 15-minute limit was intended to symbolise the roughly 15% of tournament revenue that the tournaments allocated to player prize money on average.
But the USTA's announcement, which included a Player Support Program seeded with an initial $2 million commitment in 2026 that will be equally split between men and women players, was welcomed by leading ATP and WTA players.
"These steps represent important progress in the ongoing conversations between players and the U.S. Open over the past 18 months," top players said in a press release issued on their behalf.
"This is a substantial increase in prize money. While this is not yet tied to an agreed revenue-sharing formula, players remain committed to that principle and will continue to work with each of the Grand Slams toward that goal."
The payout structure was revealedshortly after the sport's four biggest tournaments announced the creation of a Grand Slam Player Council that is intended to give players a voice on a range of issues like prize money.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris and Pritha Sarkar)
