US Open attendance tops 1M for first time
Sports
The 2024 U.S. Open topped one million fans in attendance at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The 2024 U.S. Open topped one million fans in attendance at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the first time in the tournament's history.
Top-ranked American Taylor Fritz lost to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in Sunday's men's final, a day after sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula fell to Belarus' second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final.
Americans reaching each of the singles finals aided in an 8 per cent attendance increase from last year's record of 832,640 fans, according to the USTA.
Among the many celebrities who were spotted at the men's final included Taylor Swift, her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his Kansas City Chiefs teammate Patrick Mahomes.
The 12th-seeded Fritz was the first American man to reach the finals of the year's last Grand Slam event since Andy Roddick was the runner-up in 2006, and the first to reach the finals of any major since Roddick lost in the 2009 Wimbledon championship match.
"I feel like the fans obviously, American fans, been wanting a men's champion for a long time, and ... I'm pretty upset with how I played," Fritz said after Sunday's straight-sets defeat. "I feel like, I don't know, I feel like I almost let a lot of people down."
The 2024 U.S. Open featured a record $75 million purse, with Sabalenka and Sinner each earning $3.6 million for their titles.
