The 2019 US Open gets under way on Monday in New York and runs to September 8. The world's best tennis players, from Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka will bid to win the respective men's and women's titles. <strong>_________________</strong> <strong>Serena Williams suffers 2018 US Open women's final meltdown</strong> <strong>_________________</strong> World No 1 Djokovic bids to become the first back-to-back US Open men's champion since 2008 while Osaka will look to put a difficult year behind her by returning to the scene of her first major title at Flushing Meadows. This year the prize money is the same for the women's and men's events and 2019 is a new record amount for a tennis grand slam, the US Tennis Association (USTA) has confirmed. A total prize fund in excess of $57 million (Dh209m), up 8 per cent from 12 months ago, is on offer with each singles champion guaranteed a winner's cheque of $3.85m, a grand slam record. The runner's up in the men's and women's finals will walk away with around half that amount. The (USTA) says there will also be a significant increase in prize money for players eliminated in the early rounds, with players bowing out in the round of 128 each receiving $58,000 – an increase of almost 50 per cent on the last four years. In the doubles tournament, the winning team will split $740,000, with the runners-up earning $370,000 between them - rising from $700,000 and $350,000 respectively. There has been a marginal rise in prize money for teams eliminated at every stage, including those who lose in the first round, up from $16,500 last year to $17,000. <strong>_________________</strong> <strong>Novak Djokovic clinches 2018 US Open men's title</strong> <strong>_________________</strong> In line with the other three grand slams - the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon - the winner's of the singles titles will pick up 2,000 points while the runner-up will earn 1,300. The losing semi-finalists will back 780 points, with those eliminated in the quarter-finals and round of 16 earning 430 and 240 respectively. Third-round losers will still earn 130 points for their ranking, with those eliminated in the second round claiming 70. Even those players who fall at the first hurdle will pick up 10 points.