Serena Williams’ retirement announcement provided a significant bump in ticket sales to the tournament where she’s expected to make her last appearance.
The USTA reported that it sold 16,500 tickets to the US Open on Tuesday — the day that Williams announced she would be retiring from tennis, likely after the New York tournament.
- A USTA spokesperson told Front Office Sports that figure was over five times the number of tickets sold the day before (3,200).
- However, it didn’t exceed the single-day sales from the first day tickets were made available.
Of those tickets sold, the overwhelming majority were for matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium, and 4,500 alone were for Opening Night on Monday, Aug. 29.
The stadium is sold out of standard tickets for the Monday evening session, but there are still tickets available for Tuesday’s first round. Spectators will not know when Williams will be playing until the US Open Draw is conducted on Aug. 25.
Per the USTA spokesperson, tickets in the Ashe upper bowl were selling for as cheap as $35 on original sale. On Ticketmaster’s resale portal, the cheapest ticket to get in for Monday night’s session is now around $160 after fees.
