More than one million fans attended the U.S. Open across the tournament’s full three weeks — an eight-percent increase over 2023.

Attendance for the two weeks of the Main Draw reached a new high mark of 832,640.

The star-studded crowd for Sunday’s men’s final in which Italy’s Jannik Sinner beat American Taylor Fritz included super couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes, Jon Bon Jovi, Matthew McConaughey and Noah Lyles. Thousands of other fans enjoyed seeing the stars up on the big screen and people-watching in general as they enjoyed their $23 Honey Deuces, the Open’s signature cocktail.

While the Open was again the smash hit of the end-of-summer in New York, the ticket prices and huge crowds were overwhelming at times.

“They have pushed it and pushed it and really made it much less pleasant,” said New York real estate developer Steve Benjamin. “But I get it. Money is money.”

His review included some positive takeaways as well.

“[The] best thing is always the the venue is easy to get to and is clean and fast moving through tickets and stuff. “[The] stadiums look great and all was fine.”

Tracy Reid attended four separate sessions of the Open at an average of about $100 per ticket.

“The matches were the best part,” said the longtime tennis fan and Manhattan resident. “The prices were the worst. All seats were resale only pricing for weeks out.”

Reid also said navigating the walkways in Arthur Ashe Stadium — which has a capacity of nearly 24,00 — in between matches was a “nightmare” as well-heeled fans moved around to get food and drinks.

Congestion in front of Ashe between the day and night sessions “is too crowded,” she added.

Aryna Sabalenka, who won the women’s championship on Saturday over American Jessica Pegula, was supposed to play No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia during a night match on the first Friday of the tournament, but because the earlier matches went long she didn’t begin playing until 12:08 a.m. Saturday and didn’t finish until 1:48 a.m.

That was the latest start in Open history, but was more a function of scheduling than of crowds.

“That was an interesting decision in between matches to have this 1 hour and 20 minute gap,” Sabalenka said.

During the day session on Ashe that day, a maximum of eight sets were played, causing the session to end at around 7 p.m.

The capacity crowd had to exit the stadium and it took close to 90 minutes for the changeover to allow those with night tickets to file in. The changeover caused a massive sea of humanity in front of Ashe Stadium.

“The worst was definitely the crowd,” said Benjamin, who was there for both sessions that day. “It seemed like too many people were in there. Both times. The grounds were crazy jammed and it’s just a nuisance to get around once you are in the grounds.”

Daniel Zausner, the chief operating officer for the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, told The New York Times in an interview that the tournament has actually sold fewer grounds passes over the past 5-10 years. He said the increased crowds were a function of fewer no-shows.

“The actual percentage of people who buy the ticket and show up has gone up dramatically,” he said.

In past years, tickets, sometimes purchased by companies, would go unused, he said.

“Maybe they sat in your desk drawer,” he said, “or you gave them to somebody, and they ended up not showing up.”

Michael Kahan, the Associate Director of the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford, paid $172 for an upper-tier ticket in Ashe during the first week. The ticket also gave him access to the outer courts, where fans can watch a variety of singles matches during the first week.

“The best part was seeing amazing tennis live and so close up, and with crowds that are so engaged and excited and a little bit rowdy,” he said. “I watched a match on a pretty small side court in which a top-10 men’s player, Andrey Rublev, was pushed to five sets. The crowd was pretty split between those cheering for him and his opponent. It made for some very dramatic tennis.”

Though weather during the second week was very pleasant, Kahan happened to attend during one of the more humid days of the fortnight.

“The worst thing was the heat!” he said. “It was in the 90s, sunny, and very humid the day I was there. Luckily there was a little breeze and occasional cloud cover – but it was still very, very hot in the sun.”