Tickets for Serena Williams' US Open match selling for as much as $48,000

A prime seat at what could be tennis legend Serena Williams’ final match Friday night costs about as much as a year’s salary for the average American.

Williams, the 40-year-old winner of 23 grand slam tennis tournaments who is widely regarded as the greatest female player in the Open era, is scheduled to face Australian upstart Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round of the US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens.

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A glance at the secondary-market ticket exchange StubHub shows that a seat in Section 101, which offers an “unrestricted view” of the court, will set back a Serena superfan $48,500.

The demand to watch Serena Williams, who advanced to the third round on Wednesday when she disposed of No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 7-6, 2-6, 6-2, is sending ticket prices sky high.

Adam Budelli, a spokesperson for StubHub, said that ticket prices increased some 75% for Wednesday night’s session from Monday night, when Serena Williams won her first-round match. Overall, ticket sales for the second round of the US Open have soared 50% compared to last year, another byproduct of what tennis observers are calling the “Serena Effect.”

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The “Serena Effect” is also paying off huge dividends for ESPN, which owns exclusive rights to broadcast the US Open nationwide.

Her Monday night opening-round match against Montenegrin Danka Kovinić attracted 3.2 million viewers who tuned in to ESPN. The network’s digital properties generated an audience of 2 million unique users, making it the most watched US Open first round ever.