JOIN USOpen to revert to 14 days
The US Open will revert to a 14-day tournament from 2015 after United States Tennis Association (USTA) officials reached an agreement with players on restructuring the playing schedule and increasing prize money.
The USTA announced in December it was adding an extra day in 2013 and 2014 to the last Grand Slam of the year to give players a day off between the semifinals and final, extending the tournament to 15 days with the men's final being played on a Monday.
But after discussions with players, the USTA announced on Wednesday that the finals would move back to their traditional time slots from 2015, with the men's championship on Sunday and the women's title match on Saturday.
"We've had conversations for the past several years with the players about the advisability of playing back-to-back on Saturday and Sundays for the semis and finals," US Open tournament director David Brewer told a news conference.
"It's simply taken us some time to get to the point where structurally we could provide that promised day of rest, and the day of rest is now locked and loaded going forward."
The men's semifinals, which have generally been held the day before the final as part of the US Open's controversial "Super-Saturday", would be brought forward by a day to Friday to give the players a rest.
The men's first round, which had been spread over three days, will be held over two days, bringing the US Open in line with the other Grand Slams.
The changes will not come into effect until 2015 because the initial changes had already been locked in as part of an agreement with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)
and Women's Tennis Association (WTA).
The five-year deal also included a hefty increase in prize money for the US Open. Officials had already announced this year's event would increase by $4.1 million to $33.6 million, but said the total purse would be raised to $50 million by 2017.
"Over the last year, (we've) had some spirited discussions (with players) but nothing like a threat," USTA executive director Gordon Smith said. "We knew that we would be going up on prize money, as our income increases and frankly as the needs of players have increased.
"We have to recognise that the players mean everything to the Open and they're incredibly valuable to the sport.”