Medvedev Was Wrong About U.S. Open Umpire Pay… Sort Of
In a tirade during his chaotic first round U.S. Open match on Sunday night, No. 13-ranked Daniil Medvedev shouted into the TV broadcast camera, “[The referee] wants to go home… He gets paid by the match, not by the hour!”The controversy began on match point in the third set for Medvedev’s opponent, France’s unseeded Benjamin Bonzi, when a photographer walked onto the court between first and second serve. The umpire, Greg Allensworth, told the photographer to get off the court, and then announced that Bonzi would be given another first serve due to the interruption.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementMore from Sportico.comThe crowd booed Allensworth, and Medvedev, who was less than pleased with the decision to replay the serve, egged the crowd on. Medvedev then approached Allensworth and verbally abused him; that’s when he claimed Allensworth was biased towards the result of a shorter match due to his pay structure. (The 2021 U.S. Open champion ended up losing in a fifth set.)The USTA confirmed to Sportico that U.S. Open chair umpires are generally paid by the day, not by the match. They are paid a flat rate regardless of whether they work one or two matches in a day (theoretically they could work three matches, but it rarely happens). Their pay is determined by their badge level as determined by the joint certification program of the ATP, WTA, International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the Grand Slams. Gold is the highest badge level one can receive, and Allensworth, who officiated the 2023 U.S. Open final, is one of 33 gold badge chair umpires, according to his LinkedIn page.The daily pay structure applies to all chair umpires who are hired by the USTA as contractors to work the three-week event. There are also eight chair umpires at the 2025 U.S. Open who are compensated weekly through a fund paid into by the four Grand Slams.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementHowever, there is one chair umpire at the U.S. Open this year who is an ATP employee and working at the U.S. Open as part of a personnel exchange between the two organizations that also provides support in areas such as communications and media.In an amusing plot twist, that single umpire is in fact Allensworth.Allensworth is paid by the ATP, which clarified that his pay for the U.S. Open, unlike the rest of the chair umpires, is not by the day or by the week—he is a salaried employee.So Medvedev got his facts wrong, but he was correct in the sense that Allensworth would not be paid extra for a longer match, since umpires don’t receive any overtime pay for late finishes.AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementMedvedev’s claims of bias, however, are unfounded. Furthermore, conflict of interest would still be an issue even if umpires were paid by the hour—just in the other direction, as they would be incentivized to lengthen matches to receive more pay.Best of Sportico.comSign up for Sportico's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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