U.S. Open Men’s Final Was Most-Watched In ABC History

Even though it went up against Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season, the 2026 US Open in tennis still put up some pretty impressive ratings.

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On Wednesday, ESPN announced that the US Open Final between world No. 1 Alexander Zverev and America’s Ben Shelton set a new record with a 3.2 million average viewership number. It was reportedly the largest on record since ESPN began televising the tournament back in 2009.

“Sunday’s US Open Men’s Championship match between Ben Shelton and eventual champion Alexander Zverev attracted an average audience of 3.2M viewers on ABC, the largest viewership on record since ESPN began televising the tournament in 2009. Viewership peaked at 4.0M from 5:30-5:45 p.m. ET,” the network announced in a press release.

Other Records Fall

The Final only did a little better than the preceding Semifinal between Shelton and fellow American Frances Tiafoe the Friday before. ESPN declared that their match also set a record for the most-watched semifinal on record.

“The All-American Friday night Men’s semifinal match between Shelton and Frances Tiafoe averaged 3.1M viewers, peaking at 3.7M between 10:45-11 p.m., the largest Men’s semifinal audience on record for ESPN. The earlier semifinal match with Zverev defeating Karen Khachanov averaged 1.2M, with the two semifinals combining to average 2.2M viewers, up 19% (year-over-year),” ESPN announced.

And while the overall event didn’t set a record, ESPN touted it as their “most-viewed US Open since 2022.”

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“Overall, the event ranks as ESPN’s most-viewed US Open since 2022. The two-week long tournament across ESPN networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2) averaged 1.2M viewers, a 4% increase YOY.”

Grand Slam season ends with Zverev, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz combining to claim the four of them.

Alcaraz claimed the Australian Open to complete his career Grand Slam, then Zverev claimed the French Open for his first career Grand Slam. Sinner won Wimbledon for his fifth Grand Slam and second straight title in England.

Zverev capped the season off with a dominant display in New York where he dropped only one set over his final five matches to claim the title.

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This story was originally published September 16, 2026 at 4:10 PM.