Record Final Audience
ESPN's broadcast of the US Open men's final attracted an average of 3.2 million viewers on ABC, marking the largest audience for the championship match since the network began airing the tournament in 2009. The Sunday match, in which Germany's Alexander Zverev defeated American Ben Shelton in four sets, peaked at 4 million viewers. Shelton's run made him the first Black American man to reach the US Open singles final since Arthur Ashe in 1972. Zverev's victory secured his first US Open title and his second Grand Slam, following his French Open win earlier this year.[S1]
The men's semifinal between Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, an all-American matchup, became ESPN's most-viewed men's semifinal ever, drawing 3.1 million viewers. On the women's side, Saturday's final between Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina and Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka averaged 2.7 million viewers, peaking at 3.2 million. That represented a 13% year-over-year increase and was ESPN's largest women's final audience since 3.4 million watched American Coco Gauff defeat Sabalenka in 2023.[S1]
Tournament-Wide Growth
Across the two weeks, the US Open averaged 1.2 million viewers on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, a 4% rise compared with the previous year, making it ESPN's most-watched US Open since 2022. The men's and women's finals combined to average 3 million viewers, up 9% year-over-year. The women's semifinals drew 2.2 million viewers, a 24% increase and the most-watched in ESPN's history, with a peak of 2.6 million. The men's and women's quarterfinals averaged 1.3 million viewers on ESPN.[S1]
Earlier in the tournament, ESPN's opening day coverage across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC drew 914,000 average viewers, the largest US Open opening day audience in ESPN's history and a 13% year-over-year increase. Action on ABC alone averaged 1.25 million viewers, a 7% rise from 2025. The second round averaged 834,000 viewers on ESPN and ESPN2, while the third round across both networks averaged 1.1 million, up 27% from the previous year and the most-viewed since 2022.[S1]
Broadcast Rights Through 2037
ESPN holds exclusive domestic broadcasting rights for the US Open through 2037 under a 12-year contract extension signed with the United States Tennis Association in 2024. The renewal took effect with the 2026 tournament and is valued at an estimated $2.04 billion, or $170 million annually.[S1]
