Fans wanting to have that one last look at Tennis Star Serena Williams in action before she retires will have to pay up.
Since Serena Williams announced that she would retire after the US Open, ticket demands have increased. The US Tennis Association (USTA) sold 15,700 tickets on a single day, Tuesday, for the event, and this is more than sales for a combined seven days earlier.
Fans have scooped up nearly 9,000 tickets for the first two days to sell out of the tournament, eager to see the 23 times grand slam champion’s last run.
Kirsten Corio, Chief Commercial officer of USTA, said that historically the tournament had seen high demand when Serena participated. It is difficult to hold the ticket inventory as she plays in the tournament this year.
Last Hurrah
The prospect of seeing Serena Williams end her career on top captures the fans’ imagination and their pocket. A ticket to the US Open final on Sept 10 is going for as much as $12,728 on StubHub, $5,600 on Ticketmaster, and $ 5,682 on Gametime.
In several cases, resellers are asking for huge sums for early-round games. The average sales price has remained steady recently, according to Adam Budelli, the StubHub spokesman.
If Williams advances to the finals, seats will get more expensive, though it is hardly guaranteed. The odds-on Williams, who will be turning 41 next month, is at +1600 and behind nine other players as per DraftKings.
The tickets sold on StubHub on Tuesday for the US Open were eight times higher than the daily average sales in the past week. The StubHub spokesman credited this surge to Williams. Budelli said that StubHub sees a spike in ticket demands whenever a player announces their retirement. Serena Williams’s case is special as she is one of the greatest players to play tennis.
William has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles so far, and if she wins the US Open this year, she will equal Margaret Court’s 24 singles titles, a record high. Serena Williams has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with her older sister Venus William and four Olympic gold medals.
The appearance of Serena Williams in this year’s US open will be a big boost for Television Network ESPN channel. This year two top tennis male stars, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, are not playing due to injury and un-vaccination for covid-19, respectively.
Williams is one of the highest-paid tennis stars who gave detailed reasons in a cover story in Vogue magazine about stepping away from Tennis reluctantly. She said she would focus more on her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures, after retiring from Tennis. Williams firm focuses on investing in companies run by minorities and women. She is also on the board of several companies, such as Momentive Global Inc., Poshmark Inc., and Sorare SAS, a $4.3 billion NFT start-up backed by SoftBank Group that focuses on sports.
