A look at the U.S. Open, the year's last Grand Slam tennis tournament:
Surface: Hard courts.
Site: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.
Schedule: Play begins Monday. The women's singles final is Sunday, Sept. 8; the men's singles final is Monday, Sept. 9. According to the U.S. Tennis Association, it's the first time since 1954 that the tournament is scheduled to end on a Monday. Each of the past five years, rain pushed the men's final from Sunday to Monday.
2012 Men's Singles Champion: Andy Murray of Britain.
2012 Women's Singles Champion: Serena Williams of the United States.
Last Year: Murray beat 2011 champion Novak Djokovic 7-6 (10), 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2 to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win a Grand Slam singles title. Until that victory, Murray was 0-4 in major finals. He added a second Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon this year, again defeating Djokovic in the final. Williams took the last four games to come back and edge Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 for her fourth U.S. Open championship and 15th Grand Slam title overall, a total she's since raised to 16.
Key Statistic: 10 - Years since an American man was a Grand Slam singles champion; Andy Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open.
Prize Money: Total payout to players is $34.3 million, with $2.6 million each to the men's and women's singles champions. Those are records for the tournament and increases of about 35 percent from 2012.
Online: www.usopen.org
