US Open Tennis 2026: Dates, Schedule, TV Coverage and Tickets
US Open Tennis 2026 is down to the last 16 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. The round of 16 finishes Monday, September 7 and the quarterfinals follow on Tuesday and Wednesday. The women’s final is Saturday, September 12 and the men’s final Sunday, September 13. ESPN and ABC carry every match in the United States.
This is the 146th US Open, the longest ever staged at 22 days, and the richest tournament in tennis history at $108 million.
Quick Facts
| Edition | 146th |
| Full event | Aug 23 to Sep 13, 2026 (22 days) |
| Quarterfinals | Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 September |
| Women’s final | Saturday, September 12, 4 p.m. ET |
| Men’s final | Sunday, September 13, 2 p.m. ET |
| Venue | USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York |
| Surface | Outdoor hard court, Laykold |
| Singles draw | 128 players, 32 seeds |
| Top seeds | Alexander Zverev, Aryna Sabalenka |
| Defending champions | Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka |
| US TV | ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPN Deportes |
| Prize money | $108 million, a tennis record |
Match of the Day
Naomi Osaka
Elena RybakinaWhere the Tournament Stands
This has been a brutal fortnight for seeds. Only eight of the 32 men’s seeds are left. Five of the top eight are gone: Auger-Aliassime, Djokovic, Cobolli, de Minaur and Medvedev. Just Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton survive from that group. The women’s draw is the opposite story, with seven of the top eight still alive.
Djokovic never got going. Mariano Navone beat the fourth seed 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 on opening night. Djokovic was visibly ill and made 70 unforced errors. The loss ended his Open Era record of 78 straight Grand Slam first round wins and was his first opening round exit in New York.
The Americans are running the men’s draw. Five reached the round of 16, the first time since 1995, and three are in the quarterfinals. Frances Tiafoe plays Alex Michelsen, which guarantees an American in the semifinals, and Ben Shelton meets Alcaraz. Tiafoe knocked out former champion Daniil Medvedev 7-6(1), 6-4, 7-6(6).
Alcaraz has not dropped a set since the second round. The defending champion beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and looks nothing like a man who had not played since April.
Alex Michelsen is the breakout story. Unseeded, he has beaten Brandon Nakashima and Tomás Martín Etcheverry to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal without dropping a set since round three.
Two Americans went out the hard way. Taylor Fritz led Francisco Cerúndolo by two sets and lost 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Madison Keys was beaten by qualifier Qinwen Zheng 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.
The world No. 1 ranking turns on one match. Elena Rybakina becomes world No. 1 simply by reaching the semifinals, whatever anyone else does. She plays Naomi Osaka in the round of 16. Sabalenka, Pegula and Gauff can each take the ranking only by winning the title with Rybakina falling short of the semifinals.
Alexandra Eala went further than ever before. The 17th seed reached the third round for the first time in New York, then lost a three hour Arthur Ashe thriller to Iva Jovic 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
The Williams sisters fell just short. Back in the doubles on a wild card for the first time since 2022, Serena and Venus led the deciding match tiebreak 5-0 and lost it 10-7. Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching won 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(10-7). Venus, 46, had already gone out of the singles to Sofia Kenin in a match that began at 12:13 a.m., the latest start in tournament history.
A lucky loser is in the last 16. Arthur Géa only made the draw because Casper Ruud withdrew, and has since come from two sets to one down to win a three hour 55 minute match.
Quarterfinals confirmed so far
| Draw | Quarterfinal |
|---|---|
| Men | Carlos Alcaraz (2) v Ben Shelton (8) |
| Men | Frances Tiafoe (11) v Alex Michelsen |
| Women | Aryna Sabalenka (1) v Linda Nosková (6) |
| Women | Jessica Pegula (3) v Emma Navarro (26) |
Monday completes the round of 16. The pick of the day: Rybakina against Osaka, Coco Gauff against Iva Jovic, Iga Świątek against qualifier Qinwen Zheng, and Zverev against Luciano Darderi in the Arthur Ashe night session.
Every score, round by round: US Open 2026 results.
US Open Tennis 2026 Schedule and Key Dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Aug 23 to 29 | Fan Week, qualifying and the Mixed Doubles Championship (completed) |
| Aug 30 to Sep 2 | First round, extended by rain (completed) |
| Sep 2 to 5 | Second and third rounds (completed) |
| Sep 6 to 7 | Round of 16 |
| Tue Sep 8 | Quarterfinals, 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET |
| Wed Sep 9 | Quarterfinals, 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Thu, Sep 10 | Women’s semifinals, 7 p.m. ET. Open for All Day, free grounds entry |
| Fri, Sep 11 | Men’s semifinals, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET |
| Sat, Sep 12 | Women’s final, 4 p.m. ET |
| Sun, Sep 13 | Men’s final, 2 p.m. ET |
Outer courts and the Grandstand start at 11 a.m. ET. Arthur Ashe Stadium starts at 11:30 a.m. ET. Night sessions begin at 7 p.m. ET, with the exception of Wednesday, September 9, which starts at 7:30 p.m. The USTA posts the next day’s order of play each evening.
Day by day detail, TV windows and local start times: US Open 2026 schedule.
Seeds and Players to Watch
| Seed | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexander Zverev | Aryna Sabalenka |
| 2 | Carlos Alcaraz | Elena Rybakina |
| 3 | Félix Auger-Aliassime (out) | Jessica Pegula |
| 4 | Novak Djokovic (out) | Coco Gauff |
| 5 | Flavio Cobolli (out) | Mirra Andreeva |
| 6 | Alex de Minaur (out) | Linda Nosková |
| 7 | Daniil Medvedev (out) | Karolína Muchová (out) |
| 8 | Ben Shelton | Iga Świątek |
Jannik Sinner is not here. The world No. 1 beat Zverev to win Wimbledon in July for his fifth major, then withdrew on August 21 with a right knee injury. It is the first Grand Slam he has missed since Wimbledon 2019, and the reason Zverev is top seed and Alcaraz second.
Carlos Alcaraz is the clear favourite. He won the Australian Open in January to complete the career Grand Slam at 22, the youngest man ever to do it, then a wrist injury at the Barcelona Open cost him Roland Garros, Wimbledon, Montreal and Cincinnati. He has looked untroubled since.
Alexander Zverev is top seed at a major for the first time. He won his maiden Grand Slam at Roland Garros and reached the Wimbledon final, and he is the first man to be a major’s No. 1 seed without ever having been world No. 1. He needed five sets in each of his first two matches.
Aryna Sabalenka chases a three peat. She won in 2024 and 2025. No woman has taken three straight US Opens since Serena Williams from 2012 to 2014.
Three different women hold the 2026 majors. Rybakina took Melbourne, Mirra Andreeva won Roland Garros at 19, and Linda Nosková won Wimbledon at 21.
Missing from the start: Jannik Sinner, João Fonseca, Holger Rune, Jack Draper, Casper Ruud, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Emma Raducanu and Victoria Mboko.
Full field and section by section analysis: players guide and draw breakdown.
What Is New in 2026
Record $108 million purse. Prize money jumped 20 percent on 2025. This is the first Grand Slam to pass $100 million in player compensation, and the USTA added a $2 million player support programme on top.
Longest edition ever. Fan Week opened August 23 with Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day leading off for the first time, giving 22 competition days. More than 300,000 fans came through the gates during Fan Week, with Fan Access Pass registrations up 66 percent on 2025.
New host broadcasters. The USTA produces the world feed from 2026, a job ESPN held from 2015 to 2025, with Warner Bros. Discovery taking on host broadcast duties for the first time. Your local channel is unchanged.
Content creators caused a stir. The USTA credentialed around 100 creators this year, up from 54 in 2025. Two had their credentials revoked after a lit photoshoot interrupted play during Naomi Osaka’s first round match, and the tournament said they had been submitted improperly on a food vendor’s staff list.
Arthur Ashe rebuilt. Phase two of the $800 million project reworked the lower bowl and suite levels. Courtside seating grew from 3,000 to 5,000 and the concourses are 40 percent wider. Daniel Zausner, chief operating officer of the National Tennis Center, puts capacity at 23,933. The full redesign lands before the 2027 US Open.
How to Watch US Open Tennis 2026 Live
ESPN holds exclusive US rights through 2037. Coverage runs across ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPN Deportes and the ESPN App. Every quarterfinal and semifinal is on ESPN, not ABC.
| Session | Date and time ET | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals | Tue Sep 8, 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. | ESPN |
| Quarterfinals | Wed Sep 9, 11:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. | ESPN |
| Women’s semifinals | Thu Sep 10, 7 p.m. | ESPN |
| Men’s semifinals | Fri Sep 11, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. | ESPN |
| Women’s doubles final | Fri Sep 11, noon | ESPN2 |
| Men’s doubles final | Sat Sep 12, noon | ESPN App only |
| Women’s final | Sat Sep 12, 4 p.m. | ESPN and ESPN Deportes |
| Men’s final | Sun Sep 13, 2 p.m. | ABC and ESPN Deportes |
The streaming plans confuse a lot of people. ESPN+ still exists, but only as the content library inside the ESPN Select plan, and Select does not carry the ESPN linear channels. To stream all 16 courts and Multiview you need ESPN Unlimited.
| Plan | Price for new sign-ups | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| ESPN Select | $13.99 a month | ESPN+ library only, no linear channels |
| ESPN Unlimited | $31.99 a month | Every match, all 16 courts, Multiview |
| Disney+, Hulu and ESPN Unlimited | $35.99 a month | Same tennis access, bundled |
Prices rose from $12.99 and $29.99. Anyone who subscribed before August 20 keeps the old rate until their first billing date after September 17.
| Country | Where to watch |
|---|---|
| United States | ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Unlimited |
| UK and Ireland | Sky Sports Tennis, Sky Go, NOW |
| Canada | TSN, RDS, TSN Direct, TSN+ |
| Australia | Nine and 9Now free, Stan Sport for every court |
| Europe (45 markets) | Eurosport, plus every court on HBO Max. Excludes Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and Ireland |
| India and South Asia | JioStar, on Star Sports and JioHotstar |
| South Africa | SuperSport |
| New Zealand | ESPN via Disney+ or Sky Sport |
| MENA | beIN Sports |
| Japan | WOWOW |
Australia has the best free option anywhere. Nine airs selected matches free to air and 9Now streams them at no cost. Travelling? Your home service checks your location and will block you.
Prices, apps and local detail for every market: live stream guide.
Tickets and the Last Free Day
Face value sold out within hours of going on sale in late May. Grounds passes were $65 and Arthur Ashe seats started at $43, so resale is what most fans now pay. Measured a week before play began, the average get in price across the tournament was $288, about 13 percent up on 2025, with the two finals starting near $510. Expect second week prices to run well above that.
Buy through usopen.org or Ticketmaster, the official ticketing partner. Official resale runs through the Official Ticket Marketplace, powered by Ticketmaster, the only secondary site where purchases are verified. Use those sources only.
One free day is left: Open for All Day on Thursday, September 10. Gates open at 11 a.m. and play starts at noon. Grounds admission is free, no ticket and no Fan Access Pass required, and the outer courts stage the men’s doubles semifinals plus junior and wheelchair matches. The women’s semifinals in Arthur Ashe that evening are a separate ticketed session.
Sessions, prices and seating advice: tickets guide.
Prize Money
The 2026 US Open pays out $108 million, up 20 percent on the $90 million record set in 2025. Men and women earn identical amounts at every round.
| Result | Singles payout |
|---|---|
| Champion | $5,500,000 |
| Runner up | $2,800,000 |
| Semifinalist | $1,450,000 |
| Quarterfinalist | $780,000 |
| Round of 16 | $480,000 |
| Third round | $290,000 |
| Second round | $190,000 |
| First round | $140,000 |
Doubles and mixed doubles champions each take $1 million per team, with $500,000 for the runners up. Wheelchair singles champions earn $104,000. The first round cheque rose 27 percent, the biggest jump of any round and a direct answer to player pressure over pay at the base of the draw.
Qualifying and doubles detail: prize money guide.
Mixed Doubles Result
Karolína Muchová and Jakub Menšík won the Mixed Doubles Championship on August 26, beating Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 1-6, 10-6. The all Czech pair split $1 million, the largest mixed doubles prize in tennis. ESPN2 coverage averaged 363,000 viewers, up 138 percent on 2025.
Sixteen teams played the main draw on August 25 and 26, after a new qualifying day on August 24. Matches used short sets to four games with no-ad scoring and a 10-point tiebreak instead of a third set, with the final played to six. Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka lost their opener, as did two time defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams reached the quarterfinals on a wild card.
Full results and format: mixed doubles guide.
Inside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Arthur Ashe Stadium holds about 23,900 after the 2026 rebuild, still the largest tennis stadium in the world. Louis Armstrong seats about 14,000. Those two courts have retractable roofs, which is why they kept playing through three days of rain in the first week. The Grandstand seats 8,125, has no roof, and gives the closest view on the grounds.
The tournament drew a record 1,144,562 fans in 2025, up 9 percent year on year and the second straight year above one million. Fan Week alone brought in more than 300,000 this year.
Getting there is simple. Take the 7 subway train or the Long Island Rail Road Port Washington Branch to Mets Willets Point, a short walk from the gates. The LIRR runs direct from Grand Central Madison and Penn Station in about 19 minutes. Parking near Flushing Meadows is limited, especially on New York Mets home dates.
A Short History
The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, after the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. The first US National Championship was played in 1881 at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island. The men’s event moved to Forest Hills in 1915 and the tournament settled at Flushing Meadows in 1978, where it has been played on hard courts ever since.
Explore the Tournament
- Results: every score, updated daily
- Schedule and TV times: round dates, ESPN windows, order of play
- Live stream: every country, service and price
- Tickets: sessions, prices, safe buying
- Draw and matchups: seeds, quarters, projected meetings
- Printable bracket: free sheets to fill in
- Prize money: round by round breakdown
- Players and seeds: the full field
FAQ about US Open Tennis 2026
When is the US Open 2026 final?
The women’s final is Saturday, September 12 at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN. The men’s final is Sunday, September 13 at 2 p.m. ET on ABC. Quarterfinals are September 8 and 9, the women’s semifinals September 10 and the men’s semifinals September 11, all on ESPN.
Who is in the US Open 2026 quarterfinals?
Four are confirmed. In the men’s draw Carlos Alcaraz plays Ben Shelton, and Frances Tiafoe plays Alex Michelsen, which guarantees an American semifinalist. In the women’s draw Aryna Sabalenka plays Linda Noskova and Jessica Pegula plays Emma Navarro. The remaining quarterfinalists are decided on Monday, September 7.
Did Novak Djokovic lose in the first round?
Yes. Mariano Navone beat the fourth seed 7-6(5), 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 on opening night, August 30. Djokovic was unwell on court and made 70 unforced errors. The result ended his Open Era record of 78 consecutive Grand Slam first round wins and was his first opening round exit at the US Open.
Which seeds are out of the 2026 US Open?
Only eight of the 32 men’s seeds are left. Five of the top eight have gone: Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic, Flavio Cobolli, Alex de Minaur and former champion Daniil Medvedev. The women’s draw has held up far better, with seven of the top eight still alive and seventh seed Karolina Muchova the only big name gone.
Is Jannik Sinner playing the 2026 US Open?
No. The world No. 1 withdrew on August 21 with a right knee injury, his first missed Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2019. Alexander Zverev is top seed in his place, with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz seeded second. Joao Fonseca, Holger Rune, Jack Draper, Casper Ruud, Emma Raducanu and Victoria Mboko are also out.
How can I watch US Open Tennis 2026?
In the United States, every quarterfinal and semifinal is on ESPN, and ABC has the men’s final on September 13. ESPN Unlimited streams all 16 courts at $31.99 a month for new subscribers. Sky Sports covers the UK, TSN Canada, Eurosport and HBO Max most of Europe, and Nine plus 9Now show free matches in Australia.
How much prize money is at the 2026 US Open?
A record $108 million, up 20 percent on 2025 and the first Grand Slam to pass $100 million. Each singles champion earns $5.5 million, the runner up $2.8 million, a semifinalist $1.45 million and a quarterfinalist $780,000. Doubles and mixed doubles champions take $1 million per team.
Are there any free days left at the 2026 US Open?
One. Open for All Day falls on Thursday, September 10. Gates open at 11 a.m., grounds admission is free with no ticket and no Fan Access Pass required, and the outer courts stage the men’s doubles semifinals plus junior and wheelchair matches. The women’s semifinals in Arthur Ashe that evening are a separate ticketed session.
We update this US Open Tennis 2026 guide every morning with results, start times, TV listings, seed movements and printable brackets, right through to the men’s final on September 13.