The 2021 Men’s Singles Champion, Daniil Medvedev, at the 2021 US Open | Photo by Garrett Ellwood/USTA
FLUSHING, NY – The 2022 US Open will award more than $60 million in total player compensation, surpassing the $57.5 million of 2021, the USTA has announced. USTA said the amount allocated is a first in many years.
According to USTA, the player compensation has been allocated after input from the WTA and ATP Player Councils. The goal was to increase prize money in the earlier rounds of the main draw and the US Open Qualifying Tournament Prize money.
Total prize money for the US Open Qualifying tournament has reached $6.26 million, an increase of 223% from $1.94 million in 2016. As a result, main draw payouts are now set at $80,000 for the first round and $121,000 for the second round, an 85% and 57% increase since 2016, respectively. The final round prize money for the US Open Qualifying tournament will be $44,000.
Prize money breakdown:
In the meantime, Tomas Barios Vera (CHI) has withdrawn from the Qualifying Tournament, and Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) moves into the Qualifying. He previously held the qualifying wild card, which Govind Nanda (USA) now holds. Also, Gael Monfils (FRA) withdrew from the US Open due to medical treatment, which he posted on Twitter. Taro Daniel (JPN) moves into the main draw.
Marketa Von (CZE) withdrew with a continuing wrist injury in the women’s division. Rebecca Marino (CAN) moved into the main draw.
Men’s singles main draw wild card
The 2020 US Open men’s singles champion Dominic Thiem, Americans Sam Querrey, Emilio Nava, JJ Wolf, Ben Shelton, and Learner Tien will receive singles main draw wild cards into the 2022 US Open, as will France’s Ugo Humbert and Australian Rinky Hijikata, as part of reciprocal agreements. Of this list, the oldest player is Querrey, 34, and the youngest is Tien, at 16.
Querrey, 34, was ranked as high as No. 11 in 2018 and is currently ranked No. 278. Querrey has played in all but one US Open main draw since 2006, reaching the quarterfinals in 2017 and the round of 16 in 2008 and 2010. He owned 10 ATP titles and was a 2017 Wimbledon semifinalist.
Tien, a 16-year-old Californian, earned his wild card by winning the USTA Boys’ 18s national championship on Monday, becoming the youngest champion since Donald Young in 2005. He’s ranked No. 40 in the world among juniors and was a Wimbledon boys’ singles quarterfinalist earlier this summer.
The current ranking of other players:
Wolf, 23, No. 83
Hubert, 24, No. 155
Hijikata, 21, No. 199
Nava, 20, No. 200
Thiem, 28, No. 228
Shelton, 19, No. 229
American men in the wild card Qualifying tournament
American men receiving wild cards into the US Open Qualifying tournament, held August 23-26 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, include:
Murphy Cassone, 20, who was named the ITA’s national Rookie of the Year as a freshman at Arizona State in 2022; Oliver Crawford, 23, a two-time singles All-American at the University of Florida; Martin Damm, 18, who in 2019 was part of the youngest-ever men’s doubles team to win a match at the US Open; Brandon Holt, 24, a three-time singles All-American at USC and the son of former US Open champion Tracy Austin; Aleks Kovacevic, 23, a two-time singles All-American at the University of Illinois and runner-up in the US Open Wild Card Challenge.
Bruno Kuzuhara, 18, who won the 2022 Australian Open boys’ singles and doubles titles and was the No. 1 junior in the world earlier this summer; Alex Rybakov, 25, a two-time singles All-American at TCU and former Top-15 junior; Ethan Quinn, 18, the USTA Boys’ 18s national singles runner-up and a freshman at the University of Georgia; and Zach Svajda, 19, a two-time USTA Boys’ 18s national champion.
Women’s singles main draw wild card
In the women’s singles, seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, and Americans CoCo Vandeweghe, Elizabeth Mandlik, Peyton Stearns, and Eleana Yu will receive main draw wild cards into the 2022 US Open, as will France’s Harmony Tan and Australian Jaimee Fourlis, as part of reciprocal agreements. Competitors will play from August 29-September 11.
Of this list, the oldest player is Venus Williams at 42, and the youngest is Yu at 17.
Williams, sister of Serena, has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including back-to-back titles at the US Open in 2000 and 2001. She returned to competition after missing nearly a year due to injury earlier this summer, competing in WTA events in Washington, DC, and Toronto. She last competed in the US Open in 2020.
From Mason, Ohio, Yu earned her wild card by winning the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships on Sunday. She has spent the majority of the past year competing in USTA Pro Circuit and ITF World Tennis Tour events, had twice appeared in qualifying at a WTA Tour event, and earned her best professional result when she reached the quarterfinals at a USTA Pro Circuit W25 event in Daytona Beach, Fla., earlier this year.
The current ranking of other players:
Kenin, 23, No. 4
Vandeweghe, 30, No. 9
Tan. 24, No. 110
Mandlik, 21, No. 143
Fourlis, 22, No. 150
Stearns, 20, No. 356
American women in the wild card Qualifying tournament
American women receiving wild cards into the US Open Qualifying tournament, held August 23-26 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, include:
Kayla Day, 22, the former world No. 1 junior and 2016 US Open girls’ singles champion; Valerie Glozman, 15, the USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s national singles runner-up; Catherine Harrison, 28, former UCLA Bruin who qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon earlier this summer, reaching the second round; Liv Hovde, 16, the reigning Wimbledon girls’ singles champion and No. 4 junior in the world; Elvina Kalieva, 19, a 2021 US Open girls’ doubles finalist.
Ashlyn Krueger, 18, the 2021 USTA Girls’ 18s national champion who won her first professional title earlier this year at the USTA Pro Circuit W60 event in Evansville, Ind.; Christina McHale, 30, the former world No. 24 and 2012 London Olympian who owns one WTA singles title; Whitney Osuigwe, 20, former world No. 1 junior and 2017 French Open girls’ singles champion; Katrina Scott, 18, who reached the second round of the US Open in 2020 as a 16-year-old and who has won three USTA Pro Circuit singles titles this year.
