How to Watch the US Open 2026: Free Options and Streaming Services

The US Open has hit its early stride. Round one is in the books, and Day 5 brings the kind of schedule that drags even casual fans back to the screen: Alexander Zverev under the lights, Coco Gauff in prime time, Naomi Osaka back on a Grand Slam court, and a packed slate from morning to night in Queens.

You don’t need a cable subscription to follow any of it. You just need to know where to look.

Where the US Open lives

In the United States, the US Open belongs to ESPN. That’s the anchor. Matches run across ESPN’s family of channels, with select broadcasts also spilling onto ABC and the ESPN app, so any setup you choose has to unlock those three doors: ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

For cord-cutters, that means live TV streaming:

• DirecTV: The base package starts at $59.99 for the first month and includes ABC and ESPN+.
• ESPN Unlimited: Direct from the source, live sports and archived ESPN content from $29.99 a month.
• Fubo: Its Sports plan carries ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 for $65.99 per month, with a quarterly billing option if you prefer to pay less often.
• Sling: The Essentials plan delivers ESPN and ESPN2 for $19.99 per month, or you can grab a Sling TV Day Pass for $4.99 if you just want to drop in for a day of tennis.
• YouTube TV: The Sports Plan includes ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 at $64.99 per month.

Pick one, sign up, and you’re courtside from your couch.

How to watch the US Open for free

If you’re determined not to pay, there are still ways in.

In the US, free trials are your best friend. DirecTV, FuboTV and YouTube TV all typically offer introductory trials that unlock their full channel lineups. Time it right, and you can ride a trial straight through some of the most important days of the tournament.

Outside of those trials, the most intriguing free option sits on the other side of the world.

In Australia, 9Now is streaming the 2026 US Open for free. If you’re in the US, UK or anywhere else and can’t use a domestic free trial, a VPN can bridge that gap by routing your connection through an Australian server.

ExpressVPN is one of the services built for that kind of job, with a wide spread of global servers and a reputation for handling geo-restricted streaming smoothly. The process is simple:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN such as ExpressVPN.
2. Install the VPN app on your preferred device.
3. Connect to a server located in Australia.
4. Head to 9Now and start watching.

Most of the better VPNs charge a fee, but many also offer free trials or money-back windows. Used smartly, that can turn the US Open into a free-viewing event.

One more technical tweak: for tennis, turning on your TV’s motion-smoothing setting can make the ball and movement look cleaner at high speed. Just remember to switch it off once the last point is played, or you’ll be stuck with that soap-opera sheen on everything else.

Today in Queens: Day 5 schedule

The day’s play starts at 11 a.m. ET, and the order of play wastes no time.

Women’s singles – Round two highlights

• 11:30 a.m. ET – Naomi Osaka vs. Kateřina Siniaková
  Osaka’s return to Grand Slam action always draws attention, and Siniaková is no soft landing. It’s an early test of where Osaka’s game sits.
• 12:40 p.m. ET – Alex Eala vs. Oleksandra Oliynykova
  A chance for Eala to make noise on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
• 7 p.m. ET – Coco Gauff vs. Paula Badosa
  Gauff under the lights at the US Open is now appointment viewing. Badosa brings enough power and experience to turn it into a real fight.

Men’s singles – Round two highlights

• 11 a.m. ET – Félix Auger-Aliassime vs. Karen Khachanov
  Big serves, big groundstrokes, and very little margin for error.
• 1 p.m. ET – Taylor Fritz vs. Mattia Bellucci
  Fritz carries American hopes deep into the draw. Bellucci will try to disrupt that rhythm early.
• 7 p.m. ET – Learner Tien vs. Gael Monfils
  Youth against one of the sport’s great entertainers. Monfils rarely plays a dull match.
• 8:10 p.m. ET – Alexander Zverev vs. Quentin Halys
  The top seed under the lights, expected to assert his authority but with no room for complacency.

That’s just the surface. Mixed doubles and qualifying events fill out the courts across the complex from late morning onward.

Three weeks in New York

The 2026 US Open stretches across three intense weeks at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, running from Sunday, August 23, to Sunday, September 13.

The structure is familiar but packed:

• Qualifying: August 24–27
• Mixed doubles: August 24–26
• Men’s and women’s singles main draw: August 30–September 13
• Men’s and women’s doubles: September 3–12
• Junior events: September 3–12
• Wheelchair events: September 8–12

The business end of the tournament is tightly stacked:

• Women’s Doubles Final – Friday, September 11
• Women’s Singles Final & Men’s Doubles Final – Saturday, September 12
• Men’s Singles Final – Sunday, September 13

First played in 1881, the US Open stands as the second-oldest Grand Slam event, behind only Wimbledon. The history is heavy. The night sessions, the noise, the hard courts baked in late-summer heat – all of it feeds into a tournament that rarely lets players or fans breathe.

Who’s chasing the title?

The 2026 draw is loaded. Seventeen former Grand Slam singles champions are in the field, 10 of them past US Open winners. That kind of pedigree guarantees danger in every quarter of the draw.

On the men’s side, injury has ruled out Jannik Sinner, reshaping the top of the seedings. Alexander Zverev comes in as the No. 1 seed, Carlos Alcaraz as No. 2, and Félix Auger-Aliassime at No. 3. That trio carries the formal weight of expectation, but in New York, reputations can unravel quickly.

The women’s draw is headlined by Aryna Sabalenka at No. 1, Elena Rybakina at No. 2 and American Jessica Pegula at No. 3. Behind them stand a wave of dangerous floaters, including Gauff, who already feels at home on these courts.

The United States leads all nations with 28 players in the main draw. Beyond Pegula and Gauff, the home contingent features Amanda Anisimova, Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz and Venus Williams, whose presence alone still commands a roar when she walks into a stadium.

The stage is set, the courts are ready, and the schedule is unforgiving. Now it’s a question of who can survive New York’s noise, the late nights and the weight of history to still be standing on the second weekend.