Alexander Zverev of Germany lifted his first US Open men’s singles title on 13 September 2026 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, defeating Ben Shelton of the United States in four sets. Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan won the women’s singles crown, while five different nations shared the doubles honours in the 146th edition of the tournament. The 2026 US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year, offered a record $108 million in total player compensation on outdoor hard courts at Flushing Meadows.
What Is the US Open and Is It a Grand Slam?
The US Open is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis, along with the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the calendar year, held annually in late August and early September, and is organised by the United States Tennis Association (USTA).
The tournament was first held in 1881 as the U.S. National Championship for men at Newport, Rhode Island. The open era began in 1968, when professionals were allowed to compete, and the event became known as the US Open. That year, the prize money totalled $100,000, and Arthur Ashe became the first winner of the open era. In 1973, the US Open became the first Grand Slam to offer equal prize money to men and women, a move championed by Billie Jean King.
Today the US Open is recognised as the most financially rewarding Grand Slam. It features five main senior events, which are men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles, along with junior and wheelchair competitions. Each singles draw has 128 players, and the tournament follows a knockout format where players must win seven matches to claim the singles title. Winning a Grand Slam remains the highest achievement in professional tennis and carries 2,000 ranking points on both the ATP Tour and WTA Tour.
| Grand Slam | Location | Surface | Usual Month | Organiser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | Melbourne, Australia | Hard (Plexicushion) | January | Tennis Australia |
| French Open (Roland-Garros) | Paris, France | Clay | May to June | French Tennis Federation |
| Wimbledon | London, United Kingdom | Grass | July | All England Club |
| US Open | New York, United States | Hard (Laykold) | August to September | USTA |
Where Is the US Open Played and On Which Court Is It Played?
The US Open is played at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, New York City. The US Open is played on outdoor hard courts, and since 2020 the surface brand is Laykold, an acrylic hard court laid over asphalt. The main show courts are Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The Billie Jean King National Tennis Center has been the home of the US Open since 1978, when the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills. The complex was renamed in 2006 to honour Billie Jean King, a four time US Open singles champion and pioneer for equality in tennis. The centre covers more than 46 acres and has 22 courts, all with hard surfaces.
Arthur Ashe Stadium is the centrepiece. Opened in 1997 and named after Arthur Ashe, the 1968 US Open champion, it is the largest tennis stadium in the world with a capacity of about 23,771. A retractable roof was added in 2016 to allow play during rain. Louis Armstrong Stadium, opened in 2018 to replace the old stadium of the same name, seats about 14,053 and also has a retractable roof. The third largest court is the Grandstand, with a capacity of about 8,125.
The surface question is important for players. The US Open is a hard court tournament. Hard courts provide a medium to fast bounce and are considered faster than clay but slower than grass. The US Open surface was DecoTurf from 1978 to 2019 and was changed to Laykold in 2020. Laykold is manufactured by Advanced Polymer Technology and includes a vapour barrier for more consistent speed and bounce. The tournament is fully outdoors, it is not played indoors, and it has never been played on grass at Flushing Meadows.
The New York hard court season gives the US Open its identity. Unlike Roland Garros on slow red clay or Wimbledon on slick grass, Flushing Meadows rewards strong servers and aggressive baseline play, which is one reason big servers like Zverev and Rybakina have excelled there.
When Did the US Open 2026 Take Place? Schedule and Draw
The US Open 2026 was held from 23 August to 13 September 2026, with the main singles draws running from 24 August to 13 September at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The US Open 2026 was the 146th edition of the tournament, which was first founded in 1881. The women’s singles final was played on 12 September and the men’s singles final on 13 September, both on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The tournament began with Fan Week and qualifying from 18 to 23 August, followed by two weeks of main draw play that included the busy Labor Day weekend in the United States. The draw ceremony for the 2026 singles events was held in the week before the main draw, seeding players based on ATP and WTA rankings.
| Date | Round |
|---|---|
| 23 to 26 August 2026 | Mixed doubles main draw, first round and quarterfinals (new stand-alone format) |
| 30 August to 1 September | First round, men’s and women’s singles (128 players) |
| 2 to 3 September | Second round, men’s and women’s singles |
| 4 to 5 September | Third round, men’s and women’s singles |
| 6 to 7 September | Round of 16 (fourth round) |
| 8 to 9 September | Quarterfinals, men’s and women’s singles |
| 10 September | Women’s semifinals |
| 11 September | Men’s semifinals |
| 12 September | Women’s singles final |
| 13 September | Men’s singles final, men’s and women’s doubles finals |
The US Open 2026 draw had 128 players in singles and 64 teams in doubles. Top seeds in 2026 included Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka, while defending champions from 2025 were Carlos Alcaraz (men) and Aryna Sabalenka (women). The mixed doubles event in 2026 continued the reimagined format first used in 2025, held in the first week as a stand-alone competition to allow top singles stars like Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Alcaraz to enter without clashing with their singles schedules. In 2026, teams such as Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz, and Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, featured in that mixed doubles draw.
US Open 2026 Winners: Complete Results From New York
The US Open 2026 concluded with five senior champions across singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The full list of winners covered every main event played at Flushing Meadows.
| Event | Winners | Runners Up / Final Opponent | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men’s Singles | Alexander Zverev | Ben Shelton (USA) | Germany |
| Women’s Singles | Elena Rybakina | To be confirmed in official records | Kazakhstan |
| Men’s Doubles | Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski | To be confirmed | USA and UK |
| Women’s Doubles | Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend | To be confirmed | Czech Republic and USA |
| Mixed Doubles | Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik | To be confirmed | Czech Republic (both) |
Alexander Zverev Wins Men’s Singles Title Against Ben Shelton
The US Open 2026 men’s singles final was won by Alexander Zverev of Germany, who defeated Ben Shelton of the United States 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 on 13 September 2026 on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The win gave Zverev his second Grand Slam title of the 2026 season after winning Roland-Garros earlier in the year, and the second Grand Slam title of his career overall.
Zverev was born on 20 April 1997 in Hamburg, Germany, and is 1.98 metres (6 feet 6 inches) tall. He plays right handed with a two handed backhand and is coached by his father Alexander Zverev Sr. and brother Mikhail Zverev. The German reached a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 2 on 13 June 2022 and has won 25 ATP singles titles. His career prize money exceeds $68 million. At the US Open, Zverev had previously reached the final in 2020, where he lost to Dominic Thiem after leading by two sets, making the 2026 victory a comeback six years in the making.
The final was notable because Shelton was the first top 10 opponent Zverev faced in the fortnight. Zverev had beaten Shelton in all five of their previous meetings before the final, and he extended that record to six wins. For Shelton, the tournament marked a breakthrough run on home soil. The American, known for his powerful left handed serve and aggressive net play, brought strong American interest to the men’s final.
Elena Rybakina Clinches Women’s Singles Crown
The US Open 2026 women’s singles title went to Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. Rybakina was born on 17 June 1999 in Moscow, Russia, and represents Kazakhstan since 2018. She is 1.84 metres (6 feet 0 inch) tall, plays right handed, and is known for one of the most powerful serves in women’s tennis.
The 2026 title was the third Grand Slam singles title of her career, after Wimbledon 2022 and the Australian Open 2026. With the US Open win, Rybakina completed the hard court double for the year and moved close to a career Grand Slam, with only the French Open still to be won. She reached a career high WTA ranking of World No. 3 in 2023 and had regained World No. 2 in 2026. By mid 2026 she had won 13 WTA singles titles, and in 2025 she won the WTA Finals in Riyadh by defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, earning $5.235 million, the largest payout in women’s sports history at the time.
Rybakina’s calm demeanour and flat, powerful groundstrokes have made her a consistent threat on hard courts. She led the WTA Tour in aces in 2020 with 192 aces and again in 2025 with 516 aces, underlining her serve dominated game that suits the fast Laykold courts in New York.
Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles Champions
The doubles events in New York highlighted both established partnerships and new pairings.
Men’s doubles was won by Christian Harrison (USA) and Neal Skupski (UK). Harrison, an American doubles specialist, paired with Skupski, a British doubles expert and former World No. 1, to claim their first Grand Slam as a team. The US Open men’s doubles draw in 2026 featured 64 teams and is known for its fast, serve and volley friendly hard courts.
Women’s doubles was won by top seeds Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) and Taylor Townsend (USA). Siniakova is one of the most decorated doubles players in the modern era. Born on 10 May 1996, she has finished as year end World No. 1 in doubles four times (2018, 2021, 2022 and 2024), has won 10 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, an Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles at Tokyo 2020 with Barbora Krejcikova, and a mixed doubles gold at Paris 2024 with Tomas Machac. Townsend, born on 16 April 1996 in Chicago, USA, won her first Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon 2024 with Siniakova and has now added the US Open to her list. In 2026 the pair completed the Sunshine Double by winning Indian Wells and Miami, and then added Madrid, showing dominant form heading into New York.
Mixed doubles was won by the all Czech team of Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik. The mixed doubles competition in 2026 was held as a stand-alone event from 23 to 26 August, with matches played as best of three sets to four games with a 10 point tie break in place of a third set, and final sets to six games. Muchova, a former top 10 singles player known for her all court game, and Mensik, one of the Czech Republic’s rising men’s stars, became the first all Czech pair to win the US Open mixed doubles title in the new format.
Together, these results meant that the Czech Republic won two of the five senior titles in New York in 2026, while Germany, Kazakhstan, the United States and the United Kingdom each won one title across the five events.
What Was the Prize Money for US Open 2026?
The US Open 2026 offered a record $108 million in total player compensation, the largest purse in tennis history. The United States Tennis Association announced the figure on 20 August 2026, marking a 20 percent increase from $90 million in 2025 and a 44 percent jump from $75 million in 2024. The US Open remains the richest of the four Grand Slams in dollar terms.
The men’s and women’s singles champions each earned $5.5 million, up from $5 million in 2025 and $3.6 million in 2024. Even players losing in the first round of the singles main draw received $140,000, the highest first round payout in Grand Slam tennis. The winning teams in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles each split $1 million.
| Round | Singles (per player) | Doubles (per team) | Mixed Doubles (per team) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner (Champion) | $5,500,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Runner Up | $2,800,000 | $500,000 | $500,000 |
| Semifinalists | $1,450,000 | $250,000 | $250,000 |
| Quarterfinalists | $780,000 | $125,000 | $120,000 |
| Round of 16 | $480,000 | $80,000 (Doubles 3rd Round) | $40,000 (1st Round) |
| Round of 32 | $290,000 | $50,000 (2nd Round) | - |
| Round of 64 | $190,000 | $35,000 (1st Round) | - |
| Round of 128 | $140,000 | - | - |
In Indian rupees, using an approximate rate of ₹88 per US dollar in 2026, the singles champion’s prize converts to about ₹48.4 crore, while a first round loser earned about ₹1.23 crore. The total compensation of $108 million converts to about ₹950 crore. For comparison, Wimbledon 2026 offered about £64.2 million (about $83 million), the Australian Open 2026 about A$112 million (about $75 million), and Roland-Garros 2026 about €61.7 million (about $68 million), keeping the US Open at the top.
The USTA also set aside additional support in 2026, including a $1,000 travel stipend per player, hotel benefits, and a new $2 million Player Support Program split equally between men’s and women’s players to provide benefits and complement pension funds. This programme was designed with guidance from the newly created Grand Slam Player Council, formed after top players requested greater input and revenue sharing.
How Did Fans Watch the US Open Live and Get Tickets?
The US Open 2026 was available live across global broadcast and streaming platforms, and interest in live scores and live streaming was among the highest for any sporting event in late August and September.
In India, live telecast and live streaming were carried by the official rights holders for the US Open and by major sports OTT (over the top) platforms, with matches scheduled for India time in the evening and night due to the time difference with New York. Fans followed US Open live scores through the official US Open website and app, as well as ATP and WTA Tour trackers.
At the venue, the US Open 2026 tickets included Grounds Passes, Arthur Ashe Stadium tickets and Fan Week free entry from 23 August. The USTA promotes an annual US Open Fan Week before the main draw, which in 2026 offered free access to qualifying matches and practice sessions at Flushing Meadows. General ticket sales, including the popular usopen.org ticketing portal and US Open Tix, opened months in advance, with strong demand for the finals on 12 and 13 September.
For those comparing events, the US Open versus Wimbledon, Australian Open and French Open offers clear differences. The US Open is known for night sessions under lights and a loud, energetic atmosphere on Arthur Ashe Stadium, while Wimbledon retains strict traditions and an all white dress code on grass. The US Open surface is hard court Laykold, the Australian Open uses hard court Plexicushion, the French Open uses clay, and Wimbledon uses grass, making the US Open one of two hard court Grand Slams.
Why the 2026 US Open Matters: Records and Significance
The US Open 2026 was significant for both history and economics. As the 146th edition, it continued a tournament line that began 145 years ago in 1881, making it one of the oldest tennis championships in the world. As the year’s final major, it decided the closing chapter of the Grand Slam season and shaped year end world rankings.
For Alexander Zverev, the title was a career milestone. After losing the 2020 final from two sets up, Zverev finally claimed the New York trophy and became one of the few German men to win the US Open in the open era, joining Boris Becker. For Elena Rybakina, the trophy lifted her Grand Slam tally to three and put her one title away from a Career Grand Slam.
For Siniakova and Townsend, victory added a third Grand Slam as a pair after Wimbledon 2024 and the Australian Open 2025, and extended Siniakova’s lead as the most decorated active doubles player with 11 Grand Slam titles overall. For Muchova and Mensik, the mixed doubles win underlined the depth of Czech tennis, which has produced world class players across men’s and women’s events.
Economically, the $108 million purse set a benchmark for player compensation at a time when leading players have called for a larger share of Grand Slam revenues. The commitment to equal prize money across men’s and women’s draws, first pioneered by the US Open in 1973, continues to make Flushing Meadows a reference point for equality in global sport.
Key Takeaways
- The 146th US Open 2026 was held from 23 August to 13 September 2026 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York.
- Alexander Zverev (Germany) won the men’s singles title, defeating Ben Shelton (USA) 6-3, 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-2 on 13 September 2026 for his second Grand Slam title after Roland-Garros 2026.
- Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan) won the women’s singles title, her third Grand Slam after Wimbledon 2022 and Australian Open 2026.
- Christian Harrison (USA) and Neal Skupski (UK) won men’s doubles, Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) and Taylor Townsend (USA) won women’s doubles, and Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik (Czech Republic) won mixed doubles.
- The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam, organised by the USTA, and is played on outdoor hard courts (Laykold since 2020, DecoTurf from 1978 to 2019) with Arthur Ashe Stadium (23,771 capacity) as the main court.
- The US Open 2026 offered a record $108 million in total player compensation, with $5.5 million each for men’s and women’s singles champions and $1 million per team for doubles and mixed doubles winners.
