US Open

The US Open is a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in New York on hard courts, played in August and September. Both tours play here in the same fortnight on the same courts, so a single ticket covers men's and women's matches. Each main singles draw holds 128 players.

The US Open is the loudest tournament in tennis, and the noise is not incidental. Night sessions in New York run past midnight, the crowd does not stay quiet between points or always during them, and aircraft pass overhead on approach. Players who need calm to concentrate rarely enjoy the place.

It is the last major of the year, which gives it a weight the calendar position alone does not explain. A season that has gone badly can still be rescued here, and a season that has gone well can be defined by it, so the tension in the second week is different from anywhere else.

The courts are quick, the conditions are hot and humid through the first week, and the tournament runs a fifteen-day schedule with the main draw starting on a Sunday rather than the traditional Monday.

The US Open traces back to 1881 and settled at Flushing Meadows in 1978. Arthur Ashe Stadium seats 23,771, more than any other tennis venue in the world, and has had a roof since 2016. New York was also the first major to pay women and men the same prize money, in 1973.

Entry lists, the order of play and ticketing are on the official US Open site.

The dates at the top of this page are main-draw dates. Qualifying is played the week before, and calendars that include it will show this tournament starting seven days earlier than we do.

The US Open main draw holds 128 players in single elimination, 7 rounds to the title and 127 matches in all. The guides explain what the numbers beside the names mean and who gets a bye in a draw of 128.

The US Open draw with every score is on its own page and updates while the tournament is being played.

Alexander Zverev won the men's title in 2026, beating Ben Shelton in the final by 6-3, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2. They were ranked 2 in the world at the time of writing.

Elena Rybakina won the women's title in 2026, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final by 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. They were ranked 1 in the world at the time of writing.

5 of the 8 quarter-finalists in the men's draw were seeded, which is close to what the seedings predicted. Alexander Zverev took the US Open title from the number 1 seeding, and the final went 4 sets.

8 of the 8 quarter-finalists in the women's draw were seeded, which is close to what the seedings predicted. Elena Rybakina took the US Open title from the number 2 seeding, and the final went 3 sets.

Rights to the US Open are sold country by country, so the answer depends entirely on where you are sitting. Some countries get it free to air: United States, Australia, Italy.

The US Open is played in New York, in the American east coast, and matches suit European viewers badly and American ones perfectly: day matches start in the afternoon UK time, and the night session runs past midnight in New York, which is dawn in Europe.

If you are watching from United States or Australia or Italy, you do not need a subscription: ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, 9Now, SuperTennis carry it free. Everywhere else on the list above is behind a paywall of some kind, which is the normal state of tennis broadcasting rather than anything unusual about this tournament.

The US Open runs the most demanding schedule in tennis for anyone outside North America. Day sessions start at 11am eastern and the night session begins at 7pm, which is midnight in London, and matches routinely finish after 1am local. The main draw opens on a Sunday rather than the traditional Monday, so the fortnight is fifteen days. Every court has a camera feed, but whether your broadcaster carries the outer ones is another matter.

If you follow more than one tournament a year, the viewing guide compares the subscriptions against each other.