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US Open Sets Records in Attendance, Viewership, Engagement, Sales

Two years removed from being held without spectators, the US Open redefined ‘spectacular’ in 2022 by breaking records for attendance, viewership, engagement, food and beverage and merchandise sales.

Among the highlights from the 2022 US Open:

On the Court

• Nineteen-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud to win the men’s singles title, becoming the youngest US Open men’s singles champion since Pete Sampras in 1990 and the youngest-ever men’s world No. 1. The young Spaniard’s run to the title featured a flair for late-night drama, with Alcaraz winning five-set matches in the fourth round, quarterfinals and semifinals, with his 5-hour, 15-minute quarterfinal victory over Jannik Sinner setting the US Open record for latest finish, at 2:50 a.m.
• Polish 21-year-old Iga Swiatek cemented her status as the world No. 1 by winning the women’s singles title over Tunisian Ons Jabeur, her first US Open and third career Grand Slam singles title. Swiatek became the youngest woman to win her third major title since Maria Sharapova in 2008 and is only the ninth player of the Open Era (since 1968) to win her third major before turning 22. Jabeur, meanwhile, was the first African woman to reach the US Open singles final.
• Serena Williams’ run to the third round in what was likely her final US Open saw the all-time great extend her leads atop a number of US Open record boards, including most singles matches won (108), most matches played (118) and won (103) inside Arthur Ashe Stadium and most matches played (56) and won (46) at night.
• Twenty-four-year-old American Frances Tiafoe’s run to the singles semifinals captivated the New York crowd, as he became the first African-American man to reach the singles semifinals since Arthur Ashe in 1972.
• Overall, 44 Americans competed in the singles main draws, a 20-year high outside of the 2020 US Open, which was impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions.
• The US Open hosted a landmark Wheelchair Tournament that set a number of Grand Slam superlatives, including: Largest player field, with 56 players; First Grand Slam Wheelchair event awarding more than $1 million in prize money; and First Grand Slam Wheelchair event with a junior competition.
• The US Open also continued its commitment to inclusion by expanding its second consecutive HBCU Live Day and celebrating the LGBTQ+ community on Open Pride Day.

Attendance

• The full, three-week attendance for the US Open, including Fan Week, was 888,044, eclipsing the previous record of 853,227, set in 2019. The two-week main draw attendance of 776,120 surpassed the previous record of 737,872, also set in 2019.
• The 2022 US Open also marked the first time in Arthur Ashe Stadium’s 25 years that every session in the stadium, now with a capacity of 23,859, was sold out.
• Fan Week saw 111,924 fans experience the US Open for free, including a record 35,525 kids and families coming to the grounds on Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.

Digital and Social

• The US Open’s digital platforms, powered by IBM, had a record-setting year: More than 35 million total visits to USOpen.org and the US Open app from 13 million unique devices, increases of more than 20 percent.
• Total interactions and views across the US Open’s official social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok reached upwards of 1 billion over the three weeks of the main draw and Fan Week.
• Total video views on the US Open’s official Instagram page tallied more than 250 million, a near 250-percent increase over 2021.

Television Viewership

• The Serena Williams-Ajla Tomljanovich third-round match was the most-watched tennis telecast on record in ESPN’s 43-year history. It averaged 4.6 million viewers and peaked with 6.9 million viewers in the 10:15 p.m. quarter-hour.
• Frances Tiafoe’s Labor Day upset over Rafael Nadal earned an average audience of 2.4 million fans, peaking at 3.4 million. The entire 11 a.m. window of nearly eight hours delivered an average audience of 1.7 million viewers, up more than double - 113 percent - over the same telecast last year.

‘Tennis Plays for Peace’ and Ukraine Crisis Relief

• The US Open raised $2 million in crisis relief for Ukraine through its collection of fundraising efforts throughout the 2022 event, starting with the Tennis Plays for Peace exhibition during Fan Week and continuing with donations from the US Open’s corporate partners, the USTA, fans and private donors.

Posted on September 12, 2022
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