The 2016 US Open was the 136th edition of tennis' US Open, the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It took place on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.
In the men's singles competition, Stan Wawrinka defeated defending champion Novak Djokovic in the final.
Angelique Kerber defeated Karolína Plíšková in the women's singles to become the first German player to win the tournament since Steffi Graf in 1996. 2015 women's singles champion Flavia Pennetta did not defend her title as she had retired at the end of the 2015 season.
This tournament turned out to be the last one in the career of former No.1 player in the world and 2008 French Open women's singles champion Ana Ivanovic, who announced her retirement from professional tennis at the end of the year.
Tournament
The 2016 US Open was the 136th edition of the tournament and it was held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park of Queens in New York City, New York, United States.
The tournament was an event run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and was part of the 2016 ATP World Tour and the 2016 WTA Tour calendars under the Grand Slam category. The tournament consists of both men's and women's singles and doubles draws as well as a mixed doubles event. There are also singles and doubles events for both boys and girls (players under 18), which is part of the Grade A category of tournaments.
In addition, the annual men's and women's Champions Invitational doubles events were held, with eight male and eight female former Grand Slam champions taking part. For the third year running, the American Collegiate Invitational competitions were organized, where top sixteen American collegiate players compete in men's and women's singles events. Exhibition matches also took place.
Due to the 2016 Summer Paralympics, no usual singles, doubles and quad events for men's and women's wheelchair tennis players as part of the UNIQLO tour under the Grand Slam category were played.
The tournament was played on hard courts and took place on a series of 17 courts with DecoTurf surface, including the three main showcourts – Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium, and the new Grandstand. It was the first US Open played on courts with operational roofs: on centre court and on the newly built Grandstand stadium. The Ashe roof was expected to be used only for rain, unlike the Australian Open, which also closes its roof in cases of extreme heat. It was also the last tournament before the demolition of Louis Armstrong Stadium and the old Grandstand. Arthur Ashe Stadium and the new Grandstand would be the existing main stadiums for the 2017 edition.
For the second year running, the US Open was scheduled across 14 days, rather than the 15-day schedule of 2013 and 2014, which impacted all senior events. Women's singles semifinals have been scheduled for September 8 evening session, while men's singles semifinal matches was played on Friday September 9. The men's doubles final was played before the women's singles final on Saturday, September 10, and the men's singles final followed the women's doubles final on Sunday, September 11.
Broadcast In the United States, the 2016 US Open was the second under a new, 11-year, $825 million contract with ESPN, in which the broadcaster holds exclusive rights to the entire tournament and the US Open Series. This means that the tournament was not available on broadcast television. This also makes ESPN the exclusive U.S. broadcaster for three of the four tennis majors.
Live action from a total of twelve courts was available this year (Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium, Grandstand, Court 4, Court 5, Court 6, Court 9, Court 11, Court 12, Court 13, Court 17 and Court P6/Old Grandstand), an increase from eleven in 2015.
Point and prize money distribution
Point distribution Below is a series of tables for each of the competitions showing the ranking points on offer for each event.
Senior EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64QQ3Q2Q1Men's singles20001200720360180904510251680Men's doubles0 13007804302401307010403020210
Junior EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32QQ3Boys' singles37527018012075302520Girls' singlesBoys' doubles2701801207545Girls' doubles
Prize money The total prize-money compensation for the 2016 US Open is $46.3 million, a 10% increase on the same total last year. Of that total, a record $3.5 million goes to both the men's and women's singles champions. This made the US Open the most lucrative and highest paying tennis grand slam in the world, leapfrogging Wimbledon in total prize money fund. Prize money for the US Open qualifying tournament is also up 10 percent, to $1.9 million.
EventWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64Round of 128Q3Q2Q1Singles$3,500,000$1,750,000$875,000$450,000$235,000$140,000$77,188$43,313$16,350$10,900$5,606Doubles$625,000$310,000$150,000$75,000$40,000$24,500$15,141Mixed doubles$150,000$70,000$30,000$15,000$10,000$5,000
On top of listed above, $600,000 will contribute Champions Invitational events prize money, while $1,478,000 is estimated as players' per diem. A total of men's and women's singles prize money ($36,324,000) will account for more than 78% of total player compensation, while doubles ($5,463,000) and mixed doubles ($500,000) – for 12% and 1%, respectively.
Bonus prize money The top three men's and top three women's finishers in the 2016 US Open Series also earn bonus prize money at the US Open, with the champions of the Series Bonus Challenge having the opportunity to win $1 million in addition to their tournament prize money.
2016 Emirates Airline US Open Series Finish2016 US Open FinishAwardeesWFSFQFRound of 16Round of 32Round of 64Round of 1281st place$1,000,000$500,000$250,000$125,000$70,000$40,000$25,000$15,000 Kei Nishikori $250,000 Agnieszka Radwańska $70,0002nd place$500,000$250,000$125,000$62,500$35,000$20,000$12,500$7,500 Grigor Dimitrov $35,000 Johanna Konta $35,0003rd place$250,000$125,000$62,500$31,250$17,500$10,000$6,250$3,750 Milos Raonic $6,250 Simona Halep $31,250
Singles players 2016 US Open – Men's singles Champion Runner-up Stan Wawrinka Novak Djokovic Semifinals out Gaël Monfils Kei Nishikori Quarterfinals out Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Lucas Pouille Juan Martín del Potro (WC) Andy Murray 4th round out Kyle Edmund Jack Sock Rafael Nadal Marcos Baghdatis Dominic Thiem Illya Marchenko Ivo Karlović Grigor Dimitrov 3rd round out Mikhail Youzhny John Isner Kevin Anderson Marin Čilić Andrey Kuznetsov Roberto Bautista Agut Nicolás Almagro Ryan Harrison (Q) Pablo Carreño Busta David Ferrer Nick Kyrgios Dan Evans Nicolas Mahut Jared Donaldson (Q) João Sousa Paolo Lorenzi 2nd round out Jiří Veselý Guido Pella Steve Darcis (Q) Ernesto Escobedo (WC) James Duckworth (WC) Vasek Pospisil Mischa Zverev (Q) Sergiy Stakhovsky Andreas Seppi Albert Ramos-Viñolas Marco Chiudinelli (Q) Federico Delbonis Jan Šátral (Q) Pablo Cuevas Benoît Paire Milos Raonic Ričardas Berankis Janko Tipsarević (PR) Steve Johnson Fabio Fognini Horacio Zeballos Damir Džumhur Alexander Zverev Alessandro Giannessi (Q) Karen Khachanov (Q) Paul-Henri Mathieu Donald Young Viktor Troicki Feliciano López Jérémy Chardy Gilles Simon Marcel Granollers 1st round out Jerzy Janowicz (PR) Saketh Myneni (Q) Bjorn Fratangelo (WC) Martin Kližan Frances Tiafoe (WC) Jordan Thompson Lukáš Lacko Richard Gasquet Guido Andreozzi (Q) Robin Haase Jozef Kovalík (LL) Yoshihito Nishioka Taylor Fritz Pierre-Hugues Herbert Gastão Elias Rogério Dutra Silva Denis Istomin Stéphane Robert Thomaz Bellucci Julien Benneteau (PR) Mikhail Kukushkin Guilherme Clezar (Q) Brian Baker (PR) Guillermo García-López Gilles Müller Mackenzie McDonald (WC) Márton Fucsovics (Q) Dudi Sela Dušan Lajović Facundo Bagnis Adrian Mannarino Dustin Brown John Millman Malek Jaziri Ilya Ivashka (Q) Sam Querrey Evgeny Donskoy Diego Schwartzman Teymuraz Gabashvili Alexandr Dolgopolov Aljaž Bedene Florian Mayer Ivan Dodig Bernard Tomic Daniel Brands (LL) Rajeev Ram (WC) Denis Kudla Fernando Verdasco Benjamin Becker Thomas Fabbiano (Q) Christian Harrison (Q) Philipp Kohlschreiber Lu Yen-hsun Jan-Lennard Struff Radu Albot David Goffin Borna Ćorić Víctor Estrella Burgos Michael Mmoh (Q) Íñigo Cervantes Radek Štěpánek (Q) Carlos Berlocq Juan Mónaco Lukáš Rosol
2016 US Open – Women's singles Champion Runner-up Angelique Kerber Karolína Plíšková Semifinals out Serena Williams Caroline Wozniacki Quarterfinals out Simona Halep Ana Konjuh Anastasija Sevastova Roberta Vinci 4th round out Yaroslava Shvedova Carla Suárez Navarro Agnieszka Radwańska Venus Williams Madison Keys Johanna Konta Lesia Tsurenko Petra Kvitová 3rd round out Johanna Larsson Zhang Shuai Elena Vesnina Tímea Babos Caroline Garcia Varvara Lepchenko Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Laura Siegemund Naomi Osaka Monica Niculescu Belinda Bencic Kateryna Bondarenko Carina Witthöft Dominika Cibulková Elina Svitolina Catherine Bellis (Q) 2nd round out Vania King (WC) Denisa Allertová Wang Qiang Samantha Stosur Jelena Janković Annika Beck Richèl Hogenkamp (Q) Lucie Šafářová Naomi Broady Kateřina Siniaková Kurumi Nara Timea Bacsinszky Montserrat González (Q) Kristina Mladenovic Nicole Gibbs Julia Görges Kayla Day (WC) Duan Yingying (Q) Ana Bogdan (Q) Svetlana Kuznetsova Tsvetana Pironkova Andrea Petkovic Zheng Saisai Garbiñe Muguruza Christina McHale Yulia Putintseva Wang Yafan (Q) Evgeniya Rodina Çağla Büyükakçay Lauren Davis (WC) Shelby Rogers Mirjana Lučić-Baroni 1st round out Ekaterina Makarova Antonia Lottner (Q) Karin Knapp Ana Ivanovic Daria Kasatkina Lara Arruabarrena Ellen Perez (WC) Camila Giorgi Teliana Pereira Mariana Duque Mariño Nadia Podoroska (Q) Anett Kontaveit Barbara Haas (Q) Heather Watson Daria Gavrilova Kirsten Flipkens Jessica Pegula (Q) Laura Robson (Q) Eugenie Bouchard Pauline Parmentier Kiki Bertens Stefanie Vögele Peng Shuai (PR) Vitalia Diatchenko (PR) Sofia Kenin (WC) Danka Kovinić Nao Hibino Louisa Chirico Patricia Maria Țig Aleksandra Krunić (Q) Yanina Wickmayer Kateryna Kozlova Alison Riske Madison Brengle Maria Sakkari Coco Vandeweghe Barbora Strýcová Sorana Cîrstea (Q) Taylor Townsend (Q) Francesca Schiavone Bethanie Mattek-Sands (WC) Virginie Razzano (WC) Kristína Kučová (Q) Samantha Crawford Monica Puig Hsieh Su-wei Anna Karolína Schmiedlová Elise Mertens (Q) Anna-Lena Friedsam Mona Barthel Sabine Lisicki Misaki Doi Irina-Camelia Begu Alison Van Uytvanck (LL) Danielle Collins (WC) Magda Linette Jeļena Ostapenko Irina Falconi Aliaksandra Sasnovich Mandy Minella (Q) Sara Errani Viktorija Golubic Alizé Cornet Polona Hercog
Day-by-day summaries
Before the tournament 5-time champion Roger Federer withdrew from the tournament due to a knee injury. 2009 champion Juan Martín del Potro returned to the tournament for the first time in three years after an intensive injury, receiving a Wild Card entry. 2012 semifinalist Tomáš Berdych withdrew from the tournament due to an appendicitis sustained at the Western & Southern Open.
Day 1 Çağla Büyükakçay became the first Turkish woman to reach the second round in the US Open after defeating Irina Falconi in straight sets. 61st-ranked Zheng Saisai defeated reigning Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig in straight sets. This was the first time that a defending female Olympic gold medalist has lost in the opening round of the US Open.
Day 3 48th-ranked Anastasija Sevastova defeated the 2016 French Open champion and No. 3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza in two sets in the second round. This was the first time since 2011 that the reigning French Open champion lost early in the same tournament. Kateryna Bondarenko's second round match against World No. 61 Zheng Saisai saw a fan try to jump out and attempt to engage Bondarenko after the match ended. The fan was reported to be a man named Sam Hu, a tennis academy owner originally from Shanghai, China currently living in Long Island, New York, but was arrested.