Hoping to see the world's best tennis players in action at the U.S. Open this year? Be prepared to pay up if going through the secondary ticket market.
The final Grand Slam of the year will take center stage in Flushing, New York over the next two weeks, and it won't be cheap to attend the annual affair at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Using data compiled from the most reputable ticket reselling platforms available, secondary market aggregator TicketIQ currently lists the average price for 2016 U.S. Open tickets at $422 across all 24 scheduled sessions. That makes it the most expensive U.S. Open on average since the company began tracking ticket data in 2010.
This year's average resale price eclipses 2015's average of $378, which at the time served as the most expensive U.S. Open of the previous six years. Such a big ticket demand was largely influenced by Serena Williams' pursuit of the Calendar Year Grand Slam. Though she fell short in becoming the first player to achieve that feat since Steffi Graf in 1988, she'll be after the record 23rd Grand Slam title of her career at this year's U.S. Open.
Williams won't be the only major player to look out for this year. With wins at the Australian and French Open already under his belt, Novak Djokovic seeks the 13th Grand Slam title of his career in Flushing. The 29-year-old was upset at both Wimbledon and in the Olympic Games earlier this month, however, citing personal reasons for his early exit in London and playing with a nagging wrist in Rio. He'll be challenged by 2014 Open champion Marin Čilić, Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro, who took Silver at the Olympic games after falling to Murray in the Gold medal match.
Watching the stars will come at a price, however. As it stands now Session 3 on Tuesday afternoon will be the cheapest individual session on average to attend, with tickets owning a secondary market average of $194.80. The cheapest tickets of the tournament come during Session 6 just one day later at $37 each in the 300 level of the stadium.
For those with interest in later rounds, it will cost a pretty penny to attend the Women's and/or Men's Fina on September 10 and 11, respectively. Tickets to the Women's Final currently own a $843.01 average on TicketIQ, making it the second most expensive since 2010 behind last year's $1,526.03 average, The get-in price for the Women's Final is currently $162. As for the Men's Final one day later, tickets are now averaging $939.99 and the cheapest are priced for $253 each.
Arthur Ashe Stadium's new retractable roof may also make its anticipated debut at this year's U.S. Open. The $150 million project was designed to resolve rain and wind issues that frequently cause delays and disrupt play during the two-week tournament. It won't likely get much use during the first week of action, though, as clear skies are expected through Sunday.