The United States Tennis Association (USTA) has answered player demands for greater compensation with recordbreaking prize money at the ongoing US Open. The creation of a new player support program and the Grand Slam Player Advisory Council also has been received positively. One issue at the heart of any upcoming discussions, however - a larger revenue share from Grand Slam tournaments - appears to be a non-starter for the USTA.
Craig Tiley, who officially became USTA CEO last month, said at a press conference on Saturday that the grand slam tournament does not determine prize money based on revenue. “We don’t use that number as a form of calculating how we compensate, because it can be fairly arbitrary from one event to another,” Tiley said, according to Front Office Sports. “I believe the tours use profit, so we look at it very differently. We say, what’s a fair share that the players need to be compensated on, and what can we do, because even outside of just the compensation package, what other things can we do to help support the players, not just during the event but also year-round.”
The US Open has boosted the prize pool by 20%, including a Grand Slam-record $5.5 million to this year’s singles champions. The overall compensation is a record $108 million, up from $90 million last year and a whopping 44% jump from $75 million in 2024.
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