ABC secures most-watched US Open men’s final in network history

For the second time since 2006, an American man was featured in the US Open championship match. As expected, his appearance drew strong viewership on ABC.

Sunday’s US Open men’s final between Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev averaged 3.2 million viewers on ABC, marking the most-watched edition of the match since ESPN secured rights to the event in 2009. The audience rose 9 percent from last year’s final, which featured Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Viewership for the final peaked at 4.0 million in the 5:30 p.m. ET quarter-hour. As always, the men’s final competed directly with Week 1 of the NFL season.

Compared to 2024, when Taylor Fritz became the first American man to compete in a US Open final since Andy Roddick in 2006, viewership increased by 92 percent (1.67 million viewers). The audience for Fritz’s appearance was diminished because Disney-owned networks were blacked out on DirecTV, and because the match was noncompetitive (Fritz lost to Sinner in straight sets).

Zverev’s win over Shelton on Sunday marginally outpaced an All-American semifinal between Shelton and Frances Tiafoe on Friday night. The five-set slugfest averaged 3.1 million viewers, the largest men’s semifinal audience on record for ESPN. Zverev’s win over Karen Khachanov earlier that evening averaged 1.2 million viewers.

ESPN posted similarly strong numbers for the women’s final on Saturday. Elena Rybakina’s win over Aryna Sabalenka averaged 2.7 million viewers, up 13 percent from Sabalenka’s win over Amanda Anisimova last year, and peaked at 3.2 million viewers in the 6:30 p.m. ET quarter-hour. It was the largest US Open women’s final audience since Coco Gauff beat Sabalenka in 2023, which averaged 3.4 million viewers.

Overall, ESPN says this year’s US Open was the most-watched since 2022, averaging 1.2 million viewers over the two-week tournament, up four percent versus last year.