| US Open Series | |
|---|---|
 2023 US Open Series | |
 | |
| Defunct tennis tournament | |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Abolished | 2023 |
| Location | United States |
| Surface | Hard-court |
| Website | USOpenSeries.com |
TheUS Open Series was the name given by theUnited States Tennis Association (USTA) to a series of North American professionaltennis tournaments leading up to and including theUS Open. It was part of the "North American hard-court season".
The Series was initially organized in 2004 as a way to focus more attention on American tennis tournaments by getting more of them on domestictelevision.[1] Until 2004, most summer North American tournaments were not on television, the exceptions being the prominentATP Tour Masters 1000 events inCanada andCincinnati. Since the inception of the series,Rafael Nadal is the only tennis player to win Canada, Cincinnati, and the US Open in a calendar year (2013), a feat referred to as the "Summer Slam" or the "North American Hardcourt Slam".[2][3]
Since the Series' inception, North American tournaments have shifted in and out of the Series. In 2023, its final year, the Series was made up of six tournaments: Newport, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Winston-Salem, Cleveland, and the US Open itself.[4] In 2024, the US Open Series website began redirecting to the US Open's official website, indicating the final end to the Series.[5]
Under the US Open's broadcast rights,ESPN held domestic rights to all US Open Series events from 2015 to 2019. The eight non-Masters tournaments received about 50 hours of television combined – about two hours on each day of their final weekends, chiefly onESPN2. TheWashington Open, which had been a part of the series since its 2004 founding, withdrew from the series starting with its 2015 edition due to frustrations over this lack of coverage and sold its exclusive coverage toTennis Channel.[6][7] The tournament rejoined the US Open Series in 2019.[8] Since 2017,Tennis Channel broadcasts the US Open Series, except for the US Open itself, which is broadcast by ESPN.
Emirates sponsored the series under a deal in place from 2012 to 2016.[9] The $90 million, seven-year sponsorship deal was supposed to last through 2018, but Emirates decided to reallocate its commitment by sponsoring the line-calling technology on ESPN's US Open Series broadcasts.[10]
| Legend |
|---|
| Grand Slam Event |
| ATP Masters 1000 andWTA 1000 |
| ATP Tour 500 andWTA 500 |
| ATP Tour 250 andWTA 250 |
| Week | Date | Men's Events | Women's Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 17 – July 23 | Newport Infosys Hall of Fame Open 2023 Champion:  Adrian Mannarino | No Series Event Held This Week |
| 2 | July 24 – July 30 | Atlanta Atlanta Open 2023 Champion:  Taylor Fritz | No Series Event Held This Week |
| 3 | July 31 – August 6 | Washington D.C. Mubadala Citi DC Open 2023 Champion:  Dan Evans | Washington D.C. Mubadala Citi DC Open 2023 Champion: Coco Gauff |
| 4 | August 20 – August 26 | Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Open 2023 Champion:  Sebastian Baez | Cleveland Tennis in the Land 2023 Champion:  Sara Sorribes Tormo |
| 5-6 | August 28 – September 10 | New York US Open 2023 Champion:  Novak Djokovic | New York US Open 2023 Champion: Coco Gauff |
Upon the Series' creation in 2004, the US Open Series Bonus Challenge was introduced. Each event in the series would award a certain number of points depending on the event's tier (such as Premier 5), with players accumulating points based on how they performed.[11] At the end of the Series, the top three male and top three female players with the most Bonus Challenge points would earn prize money in addition to the prize money earned from the individual tournaments. The amount depended on their placement in the Bonus Challenge standings and their US Open result. In 2010, for example, this amounted to $1 million for winning both the Bonus Challenge and the US Open itself.
Lleyton Hewitt andLindsay Davenport were the top point-getters in 2004,Andy Roddick andKim Clijsters won in 2005, andAndy Roddick andAna Ivanovic won in 2006. Defending US Open championsRoger Federer andMaria Sharapova won in 2007. In 2005, whereas Roddick was upset in the first round againstGilles Müller at the Open, Clijsters became the first player to win both the US Open Series and the US Open, receiving $2.2 million, at the time the largest payday in women's sports. Clijsters defeated FrenchwomanMary Pierce in straight sets: 6–3, 6–1.[12] In 2010 she won $2.2 million again, this time $1.7 million for the US Open title and $500,000 in bonus for second place in the US Open Series.[13] In 2007, Federer became the first male player and the second player overall to win the US Open Series and go on to win the US Open, winning $1.4 million plus the US Open Series bonus of $1 million, bringing his prize winning total to $2.4 million.[14] This topped Clijsters' $2.2 million as the biggest US Open payday to date. In 2013, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal both won the US Open after also winning the US Open Series. Due to several considerable prize money increments over the years, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal surpassed Roger Federer's US Open Series payday record by winning $3.6 million each, and they shared the record for the largest prize money paycheck in tennis history for a single tennis tournament.[15][16] In 2014, Serena Williams would repeat her previous year performance in winning both the US Open Series and the US Open. She now stands alone in the record for the biggest payday in tennis history, with a total amount of $4 million.[17] Starting from2017, the US Open Series ceased featuring a Bonus Challenge.[18][19]
| Round | ATP Masters 1000 WTA Premier 5 | ATP World Tour 500 & 250 WTA Premier |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | 100 | 70 |
| Finalist | 70 | 45 |
| Semifinalist | 45 | 25 |
| Quarterfinalist | 25 | 15 |
| Round of 16 | 15 | 0 |
| Round | ATP Masters Series WTA Tour Tier I | ATP International Series WTA Tour Tier II |
|---|---|---|
| Winner | 100 | 50 |
| Finalist | 70 | 35 |
| Semifinalist | 45 | 22 |
| Quarterfinalist | 25 | 12 |
| Round of 16 | 15 | 0 |
| Round | ATP Masters Series WTA Tour Tier I | WTA Tour Tier II | ATP International Series ($600,000 and above) | ATP International Series (below $600,000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 100 | 50 | 40 | 35 |
| Finalist | 70 | 35 | 28 | 24 |
| Semifinalist | 45 | 22 | 18 | 15 |
| Quarterfinalist | 25 | 12 | 10 | 8 |
| Round of 16 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Note: From 2006 on, only players who earned points in at least two US Open Series events are eligible for the final (Top 3) standings.
| US Open results | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A | did not participate in the tournament | #R | lost in the early rounds of the tournament |
| QF | advanced to but not past the quarterfinals | SF | advanced to but not past the semifinals |
| F | advanced to the finals, tournament runner-up | W | won the tournament |
