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Tennis legend Serena Williams announced on Tuesday that she intends to retire after the US Open.
As a result, the demand for tickets to the tournament has skyrocketed.
USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier told the New York Post the news prompted “unprecedented” ticket sales on Tuesday.
Serena Williams celebrates after winning her women’s singles semifinal match against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine on day eleven of the 2019 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 5, 2019 in the borough of Queens in New York City. (Elsa/Getty Images)
“You talk about the Serena effect, it’s like a tsunami,” he said. “Since people got the news we’ve been selling from 3pm [Tuesday]13,000 tickets for the Open, including around 4,500 for opening night.”
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Widmaier said selling 13,000 tickets in one day was “a spectacular day”.
Prior to Tuesday, tickets for the first night of the tournament – Aug. 29 – retailed at Arthur Ashe Stadium for just $35. Now the price of admission at Ticketmaster (through verified resale only as standard tickets are no longer available) is $81.55 – and that’s just for the purchase of a single ticket. To join someone else’s, you’ll have to shell out at least $123.
SERENA WILLIAMS CONTAINS INTENTIONS TO RETIRE AFTER US OPEN
Serena Williams trains on Center Court ahead of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London on Friday June 24, 2022. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
In fact, someone is currently brave enough to sell two tickets in Section 317, Row X, Seats 13 and 14 for a whopping $7,000 each on Ticketmaster’s verified resale.
Demand is sky-high, but Williams isn’t even guaranteed to play on that date. The draw for the tournament will be announced on the Thursday before the tournament, so we may update this article again that evening if it turns out that the 23-time Grand Slam winner is actually playing that evening.
Serena Williams holds the championship trophy after defeating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the championship match at the 2012 US Open tennis tournament in New York. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, file)
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The women’s final will take place on September 10th.