Television ratings for the 2026 U.S. Open, as reported by ESPN, have reached impressive heights. The men's singles final on Sunday, featuring Ben Shelton and champion Alexander Zverev, attracted an average of 3.2 million viewers on ABC. This marks the highest viewership since ESPN started broadcasting the tournament in 2009, with peak numbers reaching 4.0 million between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m. ET.

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In comparison, ESPN's coverage of Wimbledon earlier in the year garnered an average of 2.4 million viewers for the men's final, where world No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated Zverev in four sets. This represented a 16% decrease from the previous year when Sinner faced Carlos Alcaraz in a five-set match, while it showed a 10% increase compared to 2024's final featuring Alcaraz against Novak Djokovic.

The women's singles final at the U.S. Open, held on Saturday, saw Elena Rybakina claim victory over Aryna Sabalenka, averaging 2.7 million viewers and peaking at 3.2 million between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m. This figure is up 13% year-over-year and is ESPN’s largest audience for a women’s final since 2023, when 3.4 million viewers watched the match between Sabalenka and Coco Gauff. In contrast, the Wimbledon women's final, where No. 9 Linda Noskova defeated No. 10 Karolina Muchova, averaged 1.9 million viewers, reflecting a 48% increase from last year and becoming ESPN's most-viewed women’s championship to date.

Additionally, the U.S. Open men’s semifinal match on Friday night between Shelton and Frances Tiafoe averaged 3.1 million viewers, peaking at 3.7 million from 10:45 to 11 p.m., making it the largest audience for a men’s semifinal on ESPN. The earlier semifinal, in which Zverev beat Karen Khachanov, averaged 1.2 million viewers. Together, the two matches averaged 2.2 million, a 19% increase year-over-year.

Overall, the U.S. Open event has recorded the highest viewership for ESPN since 2022, with the two-week tournament across all ESPN networks averaging 1.2 million viewers, marking a 4% increase year-over-year. The combined viewership for the men’s and women’s finals reached 3.0 million, which is a 9% rise from the previous year. In comparison, Wimbledon averaged 853,000 viewers over its two-week tournament, reflecting an 18% year-over-year increase.

In an interesting rating detail, the conclusion of the quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz and Ben Shelton, which ended at 3:33 a.m., attracted 967,000 viewers from 3:30 to 3:40 a.m. The match had an average viewership of 1.6 million, surpassing the ratings for the Roland Garros women’s final between Mirra Andreeva and Maja Chwalinska, which garnered 826,000 viewers.