Aussie thrashed 6-2 6-1 6-2 by Luciano Darderi<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Sydneysider, who had not played since the Wimbledon doubles final due to an abdominal injury and was clearly lacking match fitness, said the earlier start did have an impact on planning and preparation, though it was not the reason for his exit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess we are used to it now, because every slam except for Wimbledon is doing it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure the players like it \u2014 I haven\u2019t really spoken to many of them \u2014 but I think it is easier to prepare if you have a Monday (or) Tuesday start. Just with your schedule leading up … it probably is a bit easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I guess for the tournaments, it\u2019s another day of … tickets and concessions, whatever it is. It\u2019s probably better for the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n
The players are increasingly agitated by a tour where Masters-tier events, which are held in beautiful \u2014 but more expensive cities \u2014 are going for longer than ever, citing physical and mental fatigue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not really a fan of it. I don\u2019t know why they had to make it even longer,\u201d 2024 US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I know why they did it. They get to sell tickets for an extra day. (But) I\u2019m not really for it. I don\u2019t think a lot of players were for it, especially the week before a Slam. It makes everything a little longer and a little harder. I don\u2019t think a lot of players want that.\u201d<\/p>\n
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 24: Luciano Darderi of Italy shakes hands after celebrating match point against Rinky Hijikata of Australia during their Men’s Singles First Round match on Day One of the 2025 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 24, 2025 in the Flushing neighbourhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Al Bello\/Getty Images\/AFP (Photo by AL BELLO \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n
But as a Tennis Australia staffer said in New York this weekend, the players\u2019 demand for a greater slice of the pie in terms of prizemoney inevitably means tournaments will look to increase their revenue as well.<\/p>\n
The winners of the US Open will earn more money than ever before in a fortnight\u2019s time. But they are not the only ones smashing it, not that the tournaments are declaring this. Instead the extra day is all about giving fans a greater chance to watch tennis, apparently.<\/p>\n
In a statement to ESPN, a US Open spokesperson said that an additional day broadened the opportunity for tennis fans to attend Flushing Meadows and also gave fans watching around the world additional viewing time as well. Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching!<\/p>\n
The US Open, already a behemoth when it comes to raking in the cash, is doing so in spades in what is a historic fortnight in the Big Apple. <\/p>\n
The contentious decision to run a $1 million mixed doubles invitational last week drew two days of sellout crowds to the 20,000 seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, while almost 240,000 fans attended the opening seven days featuring qualifying and the annual fan day.<\/p>\n
That is a lot of people and a lot of stomachs to satisfy. Go for a stroll around the grounds and the prices at the concession stands are exorbitant, particularly if you are wielding an Aussie dollar against the US greenback. <\/p>\n
A Flat White? That\u2019s $9.50 (A$14.78), thanks. Need something stronger to stomach that cost? A glass of Mo\u00ebt will set you back $32 (A$49.79). <\/p>\n
Fuku! If that is not pricey enough to make one swear, three chicken tenders and some fries from the New York chain bearing that name will cost you $25 (A$38.90) on site, but can be washed down with a $16 (A$24.89) buck beer. Fuku indeed. <\/p>\n
As for a lobster roll? You\u2019ll need a couple of Aussie lobsters ($20) to cover the cost of one. And you won\u2019t be full either. Talk about a grand slam test. Luckily the winners of the singles take home A$7.78 million this year. But there is only one Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.<\/p>\n
As an indication of how much the US Open rakes in from the food and drink stalls over the fortnight, consider the money-making machine that is the Honey Deuce Cocktail.<\/p>\n
A signature staple at the tournament for many years, it serves as both a delicious drink and also a souvenir if a fan can secure a long-lasting plastic cup that lists the previous winners of the US Open.<\/p>\n
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – AUGUST 24: Emma Raducanu of Great Britain returns against Ena Shibahara of Japan during their Women’s Singles First Round match on Day One of the 2025 US Open at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 24, 2025 in the Flushing neighbourhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Clive Brunskill\/Getty Images) *** BESTPIX ***Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Last year it was reported the tournament sold more than A$18 million of the cocktail, which is a mix of Grey Goose vodka, lemonade and Chambord raspberry liquor.<\/p>\n
It is priced at $US23 ($35m) a pop this year and, with the additional days due to the Sunday start and mixed doubles extravaganza last week, certain to smash the 2024 mark.<\/p>\n
Having taken stock of the eye-watering income earned by the US Open drink, Tennis Australia introduced a version earlier this year called the Lemon Ace for the Aussie Open.<\/p>\n
Top Office Sports spoke to TA\u2019s head of product growth Fern Barrett, who had the good fortune to fly to London to road test a cocktail drawing on Australia\u2019s \u201cnostalgia and seasonal produce\u201d. Barrett has good taste, with more than 100,000 \u201cAces\u201d sold during the AO.<\/p>\n
The next question is how early can slams start? With the Sunday start in vogue, it seems only a matter of time before a Saturday spectacular is introduced. After all, it is all about given fans the chance to watch more tennis … and lighten their wallets as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jordan Thompson was blunt when asked about the historic Sunday start at the US Open this year. \u201cIt\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[443,447,2549,458,459,453,558,137,271,2547,2555,2556,617,2557,2554,2550,2561,834,545,1321,2543,2552,114,2551,1204,554,2544,833,837,2553,1202,2562,2558,2339,2059,565,2548,84,411,427,836,444,2559,2545,103,2560,118,220,2542,840,552,566,547,463,2546,423,1206],"class_list":["post-4745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us-open","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-america","tag-annual-fan-day","tag-asia","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-belarus","tag-billie-jean-king","tag-carlos-alcaraz","tag-chasing-cash","tag-chicken-tenders","tag-concession-stands","tag-courtney-walsh","tag-day-means","tag-dollar-cocktail-secret","tag-drink-stalls","tag-drinks-prices","tag-eastern-asia","tag-eastern-europe","tag-elite-players","tag-ena-shibahara","tag-espn-inc","tag-europe","tag-fans-watching","tag-flushing","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-grand-slam-test","tag-incredible-around-the-net-shot","tag-japan","tag-jordan-thompson","tag-kingdom-of-the-netherlands","tag-lacking-match-fitness","tag-lobster-roll","tag-london","tag-maria-sharapova","tag-match-point","tag-multi-million-dollar-cocktail","tag-new-york","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-office-sports","tag-players-demand","tag-queens","tag-raspberry-liquor","tag-roger-federer","tag-roland-garros","tag-singles-winners","tag-switzerland","tag-tennis-championships","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-us-open","tag-viewing-time","tag-western-europe","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}