News

For decades, US Open women’s champs got a smaller replica trophy than the men. Now they’re equal

For decades, US Open women’s champs got a smaller replica trophy than the men. Now they’re equal

Aidan Hawkesworth, U.S. Open player operations team member, stands to the side as the women's keepsake, left, and presentation trophies are photographed during the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Photo: Associated Press


By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff was surprised at how much tinier the replica trophy she got to keep after winning this year’s French Open was than the trophy she posed with on court at Roland-Garros for all the world to see. She even did a TikTok about the discrepancy, drawing more than 2 million views.
Why was Gauff so taken aback by what she called the ” miniature version “?
“I honestly did not know the size it was going to be. … I know you never really take the original, but when I won the U.S. Open, they gave me the same size (trophy), with my name engraved on it,” Gauff told The Associated Press. “So I just assumed that Roland Garros would be the same.”
Actually, it turns out Gauff’s 2023 championship at the U.S. Open marked the first time the women’s singles winner in New York was given a silver cup significantly larger than the one that is used in the postmatch ceremony. Her replica hardware is 19 1/2 inches tall, the same as both the original and keepsake men’s trophies — and 7 1/2 inches bigger than the original women’s trophy.
That one, like the original men’s, is displayed during the tournament in a locked glass box near where players enter the event’s main arena and will be briefly handed to, then taken away from, whoever wins the women’s final in Arthur Ashe Stadium this Saturday.
From 1987, when the tradition of providing keepsakes at Flushing Meadows began, until two years ago, the female champion took home a 12-inch-tall copy. But the U.S. Tennis Association asked Tiffany & Co. to create replicas for the women to match the size of what the men are allowed to keep. That change coincided with the 50th anniversary of the tournament’s 1973 move to pay equal prize money to women and men at then-player Billie Jean King’s urging.
“Equality is in our DNA here at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Everything we do, we’re very intentional about equality … and we wanted to do the same as it relates to the champion’s trophies,” U.S. Open tournament director Stacey Allaster said in an interview.
“We had a very robust conversation: Should we recreate a new women’s singles champion’s trophy? In the end, we made the decision to stay with history and to not change the trophy itself, but to ensure that the replica trophy was of the same size as the men’s,” said Allaster, who is the chief executive of professional tennis at the USTA. “Trophies are so iconic to the history of this championships, and we just didn’t feel it was the right thing to move away from that history, but … (we wanted) to be able to award the singles champions the same sizes.”
King wasn’t aware of the switch until the AP asked her about it.
“I did not know they did that. It’s fantastic. It’s equal,” King said. “It sends very positive messaging that we matter just as much. Our trophy’s just as big.”
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Recent Headlines

1 day ago in Entertainment, Music

Q&A: Mariah Carey enters ‘the era of me’ with her first album in 7 years

Seven years after her last album and 35 years into a powerhouse career, Mariah Carey continues her reign as the queen of pop and R&B with "Here for It All."

5 days ago in Entertainment, Trending

ABC ends Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension and his show will return Tuesday

ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel's late night show in the wake of criticism over his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials with the network said Monday.

5 days ago in National, Trending

4.3 magnitude earthquake jolts the San Francisco Bay Area and people report feeling a sharp shake

An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.3 rocked the San Francisco Bay Area early Monday, waking up many people, with more 22,000 saying they felt it, according to the United States Geological Survey.

5 days ago in Entertainment, Music

Release party for Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ album is coming to AMC theaters

Taylor Swift is heading back to the big screen next month, and fans are already lining up for tickets. AMC Theatres announced on Friday that it will host a release party for Swift's 12th studio album, " The Life of a Showgirl," which is set to debut Oct. 3.

1 week ago in Entertainment, Music

Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James who co-wrote ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’ dies in plane crash

Grammy award-winning country songwriter Brett James, whose string of top hits includes "Jesus, Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood and "When the Sun Goes Down" by Kenny Chesney, died in a plane crash in North Carolina, authorities said Friday. He was 57.