Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic Make History At Record-Breaking U.S. Open

The 2023 U.S. Open concluded with another record-level attendance total, further solidifying the tournament as tennis’ most lucrative major and one of the foremost sports events.

The tournament finished with a main draw total of 799,402, up 3% from last year’s 776,120. The event concluded with Coco Gauff’s victory Saturday in the women’s singles final and Novak Djokovic’s title win Sunday in men’s singles.

The new attendance record became largely inevitable very early in the tournament, as three single-day records were set in the tournament’s first four days. After that, fan interest remained high and, even as unseasonably hot and humid weather in the New York area impacted nearly all of the two weeks of play, more individual records were established.

The U.S. Open is also specifically designed to boost tennis’ accessibility to mass audiences, with a 23,771-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, the sport’s largest facility in the world, and notoriously long-running night sessions.

All 25 sessions at the stadium sold out for the second year in a row, while both the men’s (28,804) and women’s (28,143) championship matches were the most-attended in U.S. Open history.

With the additional attendance from Fan Week that preceded the main draw, the overall U.S. Open event drew 957,387, up by nearly 8% from a year ago and marking the first Grand Slam to exceed 950,000 spectators over three weeks. 

This year’s U.S. Open featured a $65 million prize pool that is the largest of tennis’ four majors, and Gauff and Djokovic each earned $3 million for their titles.