The short version
The 2026 US Open runs August 23 to September 13 in Flushing Meadows — 22 days, the longest edition ever, and eight of those days cost nothing to walk in. Fan Week is the insider week. Stay in Hudson Yards or NoMad, take the train, and eat far better than you expect.
Arthur Ashe Stadium holds more people than any tennis venue on earth, and on a Tuesday night at the end of August it sounds like it. Planes out of LaGuardia cut across the open roof. A player wins a 22-shot rally on Court 17 and you hear it from four courts away. New York does not do quiet reverence — it does noise, and the players either feed on it or fold.
The 2026 edition is the biggest the tournament has ever staged: 22 days of competition, more than any US Open in its near-150-year history. Part of that is ambition and part of it is a genuinely smart piece of programming — the USTA has turned the week that used to be a sleepy qualifying tournament into a second event with its own headliners, and it is still mostly free.
Which means the question is no longer whether to go. It is which week to book, which ticket to hold, and where to sleep so that getting to Queens takes twenty minutes instead of ninety.
Which week should you book?
If you want to see the best players in the world play matches that matter, book the second week. If you want the best access-to-price ratio the tournament has ever offered, book Fan Week.
Fan Week runs Sunday, August 23 through Saturday, August 29, and grounds admission is free every one of those seven days. The only requirement is a free Fan Access Pass, registered through the US Open app — new for 2026, and mandatory for everyone 18 and over. Arthur Ashe Kids' Day opens the week on Sunday, August 23 from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Qualifying runs Monday through Thursday on the field courts: 128 men and 128 women, mostly ranked between 100 and 250 in the world, fighting for the last 16 places in the main draw. It is the closest tennis you will ever stand to, and nobody charges you for it.
Three Fan Week nights require a separate ticket and are worth it. Roger Federer returns to Ashe on Tuesday, August 25 at 7:30 p.m. alongside Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. The Mixed Doubles Championship — 16 teams of the biggest names in the men's and women's games — plays its first rounds on Tuesday and its semifinals and final under the lights on Wednesday, August 26 at 7 p.m. And Stars of the Open lands Thursday, August 27 at 6 p.m., with Alexandra Eala, João Fonseca, Iva Jovic and Learner Tien.
The main draw opens Sunday, August 30 and runs to Sunday, September 13. The women's final is Saturday, September 12; the men's final closes the tournament on Sunday, September 13. One more free day sits inside the second week: 'Open for All Day' on Thursday, September 10, when grounds admission is again free.
Which ticket is worth the money?
For most travelers, a grounds pass on a weekday in the first week of the main draw. It is the single best value in Grand Slam tennis.
A grounds pass gets you everything except a reserved seat in Ashe: general admission in Louis Armstrong Stadium and the Grandstand, plus every field court, first come, first served. On the first Tuesday and Wednesday of the main draw there are more matches running simultaneously than you can physically watch, and you can sit six rows from a top-20 player on Court 5 with a drink in your hand. Any reserved stadium ticket also carries grounds access, so the choice is really about whether you need a guaranteed Ashe seat.
If you do, the Loge boxes — the tier above the suites — give you the best read of the court. Promenade seats are cheap for a reason: you are a long way up and a long way back.
Above that sits a hospitality program that expanded significantly this year. The 2026 tournament added two dedicated suite levels, with 22 to 35 seats per suite. The Club sits inside Arthur Ashe Stadium at the threshold between the stadium and the grounds, with dedicated chef service. The Blue Room occupies the Ashe club level. The Overlook is a quieter retreat between Court 12 and Stadium 17. New for 2026, the Championship Lounge opens only for the semifinals and finals — five sessions, September 10 through 13, and nothing else.
One thing to understand about all of it: premium inventory is allocated, not queued. Suites, courtside packages and the Championship Lounge move through the tournament's own program and through advisor relationships. By late August, what is left is not on a public page.
Where should you stay?
Somewhere with one uncomplicated route to Mets–Willets Point. That single criterion eliminates most of Manhattan's best hotels and produces a short, unobvious list.
Equinox Hotel New York, at 33 Hudson Yards, is the sharpest logistical play in the city during the Open. The 34th Street–Hudson Yards station is the western terminus of the 7 line, which means the train starts empty underneath the hotel and runs straight to the tennis. The property is also the right shape for a fortnight of long days: a 25-yard indoor saltwater pool, an outdoor pool and terrace over the Hudson, a spa running infrared sauna and cryotherapy, rooms engineered dark and cold for sleep, and Electric Lemon for dinner when you get back at midnight.
The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad at 25 West 28th Street is the closest of the three to Penn Station and Moynihan Train Hall, and it is leaning into the tournament directly: its Ace the City stay includes access to the courts at Hudson River Tennis Club and tennis-specific amenities, which is a useful thing to have when you have spent nine hours watching other people play. The house has 219 rooms, 31 suites and 16 penthouse residences, with Zaytinya and Bazaar Meat by José Andrés downstairs and Nubeluz, his rooftop bar, 500 feet up with 270-degree views. In summer, Dahlia's Garden and Terrace opens outdoors.
Aman New York is the splurge and, oddly, the most on-theme. Its 83 suites occupy the landmarked Crown Building at Fifth and 57th, ten minutes' walk from the 7 at Grand Central, with three floors and 25,000 square feet of spa, Arva and Akari for dinner, and a jazz club in the basement. It also runs a detoxification program developed with Novak Djokovic — a rare case of a hotel wellness offer that actually matches the reason you flew in.
How do you get to Flushing Meadows?
The Long Island Rail Road, almost always. The Port Washington Branch runs to Mets–Willets Point, a few minutes' walk from the gates, and you can board it at Penn Station, Grand Central Madison or Woodside. It is the fastest option that does not involve a rotor.
The 7 train is the alternative and the more atmospheric one: on from Grand Central, off at Mets–Willets Point, then down the boardwalk to the Main Entry gate with the crowd. Metro-North riders from Westchester and Connecticut connect at Grand Central without leaving the building. One accessibility note worth knowing: the Mets–Willets Point LIRR platform is not accessible, so travelers who need step-free access should exit at 61st Street–Woodside and transfer to the 7.
If you insist on a car, every rideshare and black-car service drops at the lot inside the New York Hall of Science, which connects to the Champions' Entry by a walking path. Blade sells helicopter charters from Manhattan for those who would rather not test the Grand Central Parkway at 6 p.m. on a Friday. And whichever way you arrive, check gate wait times in the US Open app before you pick an entrance — the queues at the two gates are rarely the same length.
What is worth eating on the grounds?
Considerably more than the words 'stadium food' suggest. The 2026 tournament runs five restaurants, 70 concession stands and 78 portable carts, with more than 15 named concepts — a deliberate shift away from the old model of one celebrity chef and a lot of hot dogs.
Three arrivals are worth planning around. Enrique Olvera brings Cosme to the grounds; order the duck carnitas. Eyal Shani's Miznon debuts with its pita sandwiches — the ribeye roast beef, the chicken schnitzel — and the bag of green beans you eat with your fingers. Salt Hank's, the West Village sandwich shop, arrives with its French dip: prime rib, caramelized onions, horseradish aioli, jus on the side.
Among the returning names, Masaharu Morimoto is running a hand roll and nigiri counter, and Alex Guarnaschelli is back for a sixth year at Fare with her paccheri in vodka sauce. Simon Kim's COQODAQ and CQDQ return for a third, and yes, the Golden Set is back: six pieces of fried chicken and 30 grams of Petrossian caviar for $100. It sold 6,312 orders last year, which tells you something about the crowd.
Then there is the Honey Deuce — Grey Goose, lemonade, raspberry liqueur, three honeydew melon balls dropped in to look like tennis balls. The tournament sold 738,000 of them in 2025. Buy one, take the photograph, and then switch to something else, because they are not weak.
What You Actually Want to Know
When is the 2026 US Open?
August 23 to September 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens. Fan Week is August 23–29; the main draw begins Sunday, August 30.
Is Fan Week really free?
Grounds admission is free for all seven days, and a free Fan Access Pass registered through the US Open app is required for anyone 18 or over. A handful of Fan Week evening events in Arthur Ashe Stadium — the Federer exhibition, Stars of the Open, the Mixed Doubles semifinals and final — need a separate ticket.
What is the fastest way there from Manhattan?
The LIRR's Port Washington Branch to Mets–Willets Point, boarding at Penn Station, Grand Central Madison or Woodside. The 7 train from Grand Central takes longer but drops you at the same station and is the better arrival.
Is a grounds pass enough, or do I need an Ashe ticket?
For the first week of the main draw, a grounds pass is enough and then some — Louis Armstrong, the Grandstand and every field court are included. Buy into Ashe when you want a specific marquee night match or once the draw narrows in week two.
When are the finals?
The women's singles final is Saturday, September 12. The men's singles final is Sunday, September 13.
If you are building a season around the majors, our guide to doing Wimbledon properly covers the other end of the temperament scale, and we have gone deep on the most scenic hotel tennis courts in the world for the weeks in between. For New York itself, the city's best hotel bars are where the second half of an Open night usually ends.
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