NEW YORK — US Open ticket prices have remained mostly steady since the tournament’s main draw began Sunday. But one session in particular has seen a sudden surge driven by one of the sport’s rising stars.
The get-in price for US Open session 6, Tuesday’s night session, is $385 as of Monday afternoon, a 132% increase over the last three days, according to TicketData. The price shot as high as $468 on Sunday after the first-round order of play was announced late Saturday, with Filipina star Alex Eala scheduled for Louis Armstrong Stadium on Tuesday night.
Eala, ranked world No. 18 with the No. 17 seed in the Grand Slam, has turned into one of tennis’s biggest draws over the past year around the world, mostly on the back of about 11 million Filipinos living overseas. She was the main reason Arthur Ashe Stadium was nearly filled Thursday during the Stars of the Open exhibition, and most fans left the stadium following her match, which was the third of four that evening.
While this isn’t her first main draw appearance in Queens, it’s the first time the 2022 US Open juniors champion is seeded. She’s also built momentum coming off her first WTA title at the DC Open earlier this month, and wins over top-10 players Jessica Pegula and Iga Świątek this year.
The increase for session 6 does not follow the overall ticket price trend for the tournament, which has mostly remained steady since the schedule was announced. The average get-in ticket price across all tournament days is $284, only $2 less than three days ago. It still represents a 14.5% increase from last year, which is about how much the percentage increase was leading up to the tournament.
Fans have complained about rising ticket prices since presale tickets were first announced in May. Craig Tiley, the new USTA CEO, acknowledged the rising resale ticket prices during his press conference Saturday, and he admitted resellers are one of the tournament’s “biggest challenges.”
“$65 for a grounds pass gets moved pretty quickly when it goes to market,” Tiley said.
But the ticket prices haven’t stopped fans from attending. The grounds were packed throughout Fan Week last week (when entry is free) and the first day of the main draw Sunday, and lines snaked all around the grounds, whether to watch practices or to grab a Honey Deuce.
One way tickets may soon drop is if more of the biggest names fall early.
Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, lost in the first round Sunday for the first time at the US Open. Carlos Alcaraz may be vulnerable given he’s playing his first tournament since sustaining a wrist injury in April, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner is already out due to injury.
And even following Venus Williams’s first-round loss, the women will likely remain a draw throughout the next two weeks, especially with Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula considered two of the favorites to prevail in New York.
