​The U.S. Open will once again be the richest tournament in tennis history.The U.S. Tennis Association, which owns and organizes the fourth Grand Slam of the year, announced a 2026 prize pool of $101 million Thursday. The figure is a 19 percent increase on last year’s $85 million, and has likely staved off the player protests over remuneration that took place at this year’s editions of the French Open and Wimbledon.$101 million is 18 percent of the 2024 U.S. Open’s operating revenue of $559.7 million. The 2025 revenues have not yet been published. The players involved in the protests, led by a group of top-10 stars, want prize money at the four Grand Slams to represent 22 percent of their respective revenues by 2030.The group assumes that Grand Slam revenues will grow by five percent per year when calculating its expectations. That would put its hypothetical benchmark for the 2026 U.S. Open at $616 million, with the prize money 16.3 percent of that figure.The USTA, newly led by former Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley, has committed to the players’ three asks over remuneration: welfare contributions, a Grand Slam player council and a prize-money formula tied to revenues. Tiley met with the player group at the Cincinnati Open in mid-August and said that the association is aligned on all three of its asks, according to a person briefed on the talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about them.The four Grand Slams duly announced the creation of the player council alongside the U.S. Open prize money.“This is a significant first step in a multi-year investment in athletes as the U.S. Open continues to be the best economic opportunity for players and the most valuable platform in tennis for players, fans and partners,” Tiley said in a statement. “We are proud to deliver record-setting prize money and expanded player benefits as well as providing a new platform to work together with players.”“Having a seat at the table with the Grand Slams is something we have wanted for some time, so I’m really pleased to see this council come together. It gives us, as players, a real opportunity to have a voice, contribute to the conversation and help shape the tournaments beyond what happens on the court,” Ben Shelton, the No. 6-ranked men’s player, said in a statement in the news release announcing the council.The council will focus mostly on “sporting matters” that affect the Grand Slam tournaments collectively. Players can raise compensation issues through the council but those will be handled separately by each Grand Slam. The U.S. Open has also put $2 million — $1 million per tour — into a new Player Support Program. Add on $5 million in player stipends and the total commitment is $108 million.Top players had initially threatened to skip the star-studded mixed doubles event, which is the cornerstone of the U.S. Open’s “Fan Week”, but its prize money and comm