Andy Murray will share a record £22.2million prize fund if he retains his US Open title, following today’s announcement of big changes to the tournament.
New York’s Grand Slam event will also increase its prize money to £33m by 2017 — roughly double what it was last year when Murray scooped £1.25m for winning the title — while it has been decided to permanently schedule the men’s semi-finals on Friday and the men’s final on Sunday as of 2015.
The plans announced by the United States Tennis Association (UATA) are part of a five-year agreement following calls from the players for a bigger slice of the money generated by the four Grand Slams. The other Slams — Australia, French and Wimbledon — must now decide if they want to follow this lead.
US Open tournament director David Brewer acknowledged it was time to scrap ‘Super Saturday’, which saw both men’s semis and the women’s final on the same day.
“We realize the game has changed and how they play the game is different even than it was 10 years ago,” Brewer added.
“The format we’ve had for 30 years was putting players and the tournament in jeopardy at some point.”
