US Open 2025: Dates, new mixed-doubles timing and the $90M prize br…
Aug 09, 2025 23:56
NEW YORK — The 2025 U.S. Open is set to begin its main draw on Sunday, Aug. 24, and run through Sunday, Sept. 7, with a full slate of play across Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong and the Grandstand (Reuters, Aug. 9, 2025). Before the singles main draw opens, the tournament’s Fan Week — a week of qualifiers, special events and fan programming — runs the week prior (roughly Aug. 18–23), and will now also host a reworked Mixed Doubles Championship.
What to mark on your calendar - Fan Week: mid‑August events and qualifiers culminating the week before the main draw (Fan Week programming runs Aug. 18–23; US Open Fan Week schedule). - Mixed Doubles Championship: Tuesday, Aug. 19 (day session) and Wednesday, Aug. 20 (evening session, with semifinals and final under the lights). Tuesday’s coverage is scheduled for 11 a.m.–1 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and 1–2 p.m. ET on ESPNews; Wednesday’s evening session is slated for 7–10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 (U.S. Open/USTA, June 11 and June 17, 2025). - Main-draw singles: begins Sunday, Aug. 24 and runs through Sept. 7 (Reuters, Aug. 9, 2025).
Why the mixed doubles changed — and how it will play Organizers moved the mixed-doubles event out of the later stages of the main tournament and into Fan Week so top singles players can participate and the event can “take center stage” on stadium courts, organisers said (U.S. Open/USTA, June 11, 2025). The revamped championship has a compact 16‑team draw (eight direct entries by combined singles ranking and eight wildcards) and a fast‑paced scoring format detailed by the USTA: - All matches are best‑of‑three sets with short sets to four games (first to four wins the set). - No‑adv scoring (the next point wins at deuce). - Tiebreakers at 4‑4 (short sets); if the match is split, a 10‑point match tiebreak replaces a full third set. - The final is a conventional best‑of‑three with sets to six games (tiebreak at 6‑6) and a 10‑point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set if needed. All mixed‑doubles matches will be played on stadium courts (Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong) to increase visibility (U.S. Open/USTA, June 11–17, 2025).
Broadcast windows The USTA says the mixed event will be carried across ESPN platforms, with the daytime Tuesday session split between ESPN2 and ESPNews and the Wednesday evening semis/final carried on ESPN2 (U.S. Open/USTA, June 17, 2025). More broadly, the tournament’s global broadcast partners include ESPN (North America), Eurosport (Europe) and others, with full TV and streaming schedules to be published by rights holders (Reuters, Aug. 9, 2025).
Record prize money and who gets what The U.S. Open announced a record $90 million total prize pool for 2025 — a 20% increase from 2024 and the largest purse in tennis history (Reuters, Aug. 9, 2025). Key payouts fans and players will want to know: - Singles (men’s and women’s main draw): Champion $5,000,000; Runner‑up $2,500,000; Semifinalists $1,260,000; Quarterfinalists $660,000; Round of 16 $400,000; Round of 32 $237,000; Round of 64 $154,000; Round of 128 (first round losers) $110,000. Qualifying rounds and earlier payouts were also increased (Reuters, Aug. 9, 2025). - Men’s and women’s doubles: Champions $1,000,000 per team; finalists $500,000 per team; and stepped payouts down the draw (Reuters, Aug. 9, 2025; ATP Tour prize summary). - Mixed doubles: Champions $1,000,000 per team; finalists $400,000 per team; semifinalists $200,000; quarterfinalists $100,000; round of 16 $20,000 (USTA; Reuters). The USTA and ATP/WTA descriptions specify doubles and mixed allocations are paid per team rather than per player.
Context and reaction The prize‑money boost reflects pressure from top players and the sport’s stars for bigger revenue shares; singles winners jump substantially from the $3.6 million champions received in 2024 to $5 million in 2025 (Reuters, Aug. 9, 2025). The mixed‑doubles format change — intended to spotlight the event and lure marquee singles names into teamups such as Carlos Alcaraz with Emma Raducanu — has received mixed reviews. Some established doubles specialists have criticized the change as overly entertainment‑driven and unfair to doubles specialists who saw their traditional calendar and format altered (Reuters reporting).
Quick guide for fans and players - If you want to catch household-name singles stars in mixed doubles, buy tickets for the Aug. 19 day session and the Aug. 20 evening session (stadium seating; ticketing via USOpen.org and Ticketmaster). USTA has flagged those sessions as ticketed stadium events (U.S. Open/USTA). - Expect condensed, TV‑friendly match lengths and more stadium‑centered scheduling for mixed doubles than in prior years — useful if you’re planning to watch a compact block of high‑profile mixed play. - For prize‑money detail (full round-by-round tables) consult the U.S. Open and tournament partner releases; the headline figures to remember are $90 million total and $5 million to each singles champion (U.S. Open/USTA; Reuters; ATP Tour).
Bottom line: the 2025 U.S. Open keeps its late‑August main draw start (Aug. 24), but Fan Week now doubles as a short, high‑profile mixed‑doubles showcase (Aug. 19–20). The event’s record $90 million purse reshapes pay expectations across the draw, with singles champions collecting $5 million and doubles and mixed winners taking $1 million per team — a clear signal the tournament is prioritising both star power and bigger paydays for players (Reuters; U.S. Open/USTA; ATP Tour, 2025).