The news of the seven-time grand slam winner's comeback at Flushing Meadows will have been music to former Australian Open boss Craig Tiley, who's been able to begin his reign in charge of the US Open by announcing unprecedented riches on offer to the players.
The seven-time grand slam champion Alcaraz hasn't played since April, out with a concerning wrist injury, and he announced his momentous news on Thursday in unusual fashion -- with the help of soccer journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Romano, who is usually breaking news of big soccer transfers, used his catchphrase of 'here we go' to announce Alcaraz's return on Instagram, while the reigning champ repeated the message on X.
Alcaraz, who started the year by winning the Australian Open, hasn't played since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open in April and missed both the French Open and Wimbledon while his great rival Jannik Sinner has largely dominated.
Now he's fit to return to the scene of his first grand slam triumph in 2022 when he became the youngest man to reach world No.1 in the rankings.
It's fantastic news for Tiley, the former Tennis Australia CEO who's taken up the equivalent job at the US Tennis Association (USTA) and was able to announce on Thursday an overall prize fund of $US108million ($A152m) -- the first time the $US100m barrier has been broken at a slam.
It's the biggest prize pot in the sport's history and represents a 20 per cent rise for the second consecutive year.
"This is a significant first step in a multi-year investment in athletes as the US Open continues to be the best economic opportunity for players and the most valuable platform in tennis for players, fans and partners," said Tiley.
"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."
That platform is the formation of a Grand Slam Player Council which is intended to give players a voice on a range of issues like prize money.
Organisers hope all this will ward off the kind of player protests that occurred at the French Open and Wimbledon.
The champions' winning cheque will be $US5.5 million, up from the $5 million that Sabalenka and Alcaraz won last year, when the pot was $90 million.
Players will earn $US140,000 ($A196,000) just for making it into the main draw, while a quarter-finalist earns $US780,000 ($A1.1 million), a semi-finalist $US1.45 million ($A2.03 million) and runners-up $US2.8 million ($A3.9 million).
Meanwhile, there was good news for the Australian challenge following the withdrawal of Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina from the main draw through injury.
It's meant that Alexei Popyrin was able to be advanced to the main draw and the reciprocal wildcard he had been given by the USTA could instead go to his Australian teammate Dane Sweeny, who'll make his Flushing Meadows debut at 25.
That takes the current Australian contingent set to start the action on August 30 to a total of 14 -- eight men and six women, with more attempting to make it through next week's qualifying.
