US Open

The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam of the tennis season, closing out the year at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. Played on outdoor hard courts across late August and early September, it is the only major to have been staged every year without interruption since it began in 1881, growing from a strictly amateur event into the sport's biggest commercial spectacle. The 2026 tournament was the 146th edition.

That scale shows in two numbers. The 2026 edition raised total player compensation to a record $108 million, with each singles champion collecting $5.5 million, the largest cheque on offer at any major. And the main show court, Arthur Ashe Stadium, seats 23,200, which makes it comfortably the biggest tennis arena in the world. The tournament has also long stood apart on equal pay, awarding men and women the same prize money since 1973, decades before the other majors followed suit.

New York's crowds add an intensity few tournaments match, from the roar inside Ashe to a late-summer schedule that regularly runs into the small hours under lights. The hard-court conditions tend to reward aggressive, high-tempo tennis over the patient rallies more common on clay. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka were crowned the 2025 singles champions.

For Arena Bulletin, the US Open marks the natural finale to the tennis year, where storylines built across the season are usually settled.

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