U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships: ATP Players And Prize Money For 2023 Event Announced

Last Updated on April 4, 2023

The Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship is an ATP 250 tennis tournament that will take place on the clay courts at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas United States.

Until the 2008 season inclusive, tennis players competed on the courts of the Westside Tennis Club. At that time there was a possibility that the championship might be moved to another region of the United States. In order to avoid this step city leaders offered to hold the tournament in River Oaks Country Club.

This decision was supported by the United States Tennis Association. The club is located on the outskirts of Houston and was built in 1931. The athletic complex has undergone two renovations, the last before the ATP tournament debuted here. The stadium’s center court seats 3,100 spectators.

The 2023 U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships is the 53rd edition of the tournament. It will take place from 3 to 9 April 2023.

ATP Houston Prize Money 2023

The prize money purse at the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships has increased for the 2023 tennis season. The total prize money came to –$718,245, up 18.9% from 2022. The champion in Houston will receive just over 15% of that total –$97,760 if he wins the trophy. The runner-up will receive a small payout, pocketing $57,025 for his efforts. There is a significant drop off in prize money after the semi-final stage, with the two losing players in that round taking home $33,525 each. Those eliminated in the quarter-finals will receive $19,425 for their efforts. First-round losers will walk away with $6,895.

The below tables give you a full breakdown of prize money for the ATP 250 event in Houston this year.

Singles

Doubles

U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship Prize Money History

ATP Houston Entry List Will Be Headed By Frances Tiafoe

The event will feature the participation of notable figures of American tennis such as Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, John Isner, Brandon Nakashima, Steve Johnson, J. J. Wolf, Jack Sock, and among others.

In singles, the trophy will be contested by 28 athletes, while 16 will take part in the doubles event. The top seeds are the Americans Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul.

The last event in 2022 was won by Reilly Opelka, beating  John Isner in the final. An American tennis player, Reilly Opelka, will not defend his title this year.

Seeds:

Country	Player	Rank1	Seed
USA	Frances Tiafoe	14	1
USA	Tommy Paul	19	2
USA	Brandon Nakashima	45	3
USA	John Isner	46	4
USA	J. J. Wolf	50	5
AUS	Jason Kubler	70	6
USA	Marcos Giron	71	7
ARG	Tomás Martín Etcheverry	73	8

Other players:

• Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Filip Krajinovic
• Cristian Garin
• Jordan Thompson
• Daniel Elahi Galan
• Zhizhen Zhang
• Emilio Gomez
• Max Purcell
• Facundo Bagnis
• Hugo Dellien
• Daniel Altmaier
• Denis Kudla
• Jack Sock (WC)
• Steve Johnson (WC)
• Fernando Verdasco (WC)

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U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship: History Of The Competition

The first U.S. Clay Court Championships were held back in 1910. It was the main and one of the few tournaments on this surface in the USA. The tournament constantly moved from one city to another. A pause in its holding happened only in the 1928 season. In 1969 the championship was granted full international status as a Grand Prix event. From then until 1987, tennis players traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana, where women competed until 1986. In 1988 and 1989, the competition was held in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1990, the tournament joined the ATP calendar and was held in completely different parts of the United States:

• The first main men’s tour event was held in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.
• From 1991 to 1993, the tournament moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.
• In the 1994 season, the tennis players traveled to Birmingham, Alabama.
• Then the championship came back to North Carolina. In 1995 and 1996, players found the best in the small village of Pinehurst near Moore County.
• From 1997 to 2000, the championship was held in Orlando, Florida.
• Since 2001, the association of the U.S. Championships on clay courts with the ATP Houston has been firmly on the tennis calendar. The competition is held in the state of Texas.

The popular unofficial name of the tournament, U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships, does not change. It is known that a big sponsorship of the tournament is provided by the U.S. Tennis Association. Since 2014, a well-known local businessman and shareholder Fayez Sarofim has been helping the championship. So in the official documents, the name of the tournament is even longer – Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Interestingly, ATP Houston is held on atypical U.S. soil. This country mostly uses a green-gray color surface, while this championship matches are held on burgundy courts like Har-Tru. True, it hasn’t always been that way:

• Until 2007, ATP Houston was held on the same red clay as Roland Garros (the main tournament on the ground for the masters of the big racket).
• In 2008, the organizers switched to a gray-green color. But since 2009 it was changed to the current version.

ATP 250 Houston Ranking Points

The below tables give you a full breakdown of ranking points across the ATP 250 event in Houston.