How To Watch The US Tennis Open In The UK

We’ve had Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics, leaving one remaining big-hitter in our 2024 summer tennis season: the US Open. Here’s everything you need to know about the competition, plus how to tune in from the UK.

What Is The US Open?

The US Open is one of four Grand Slam tennis tournaments held annually. It follows the Australian Open (Melbourne, January), the French Open (aka Roland Garros; Paris, May/June) and Wimbledon (London, June/July), hosted in New York City from the end of August to early September. Dating back to 1881, it is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, and includes men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles, as well as junior and wheelchair events, all played on hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, NYC.

The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, showing Courts #6 and 5, part of the practice courts (on the left), and Arthur Ashe Stadium in the background (Darylsam, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

A Brief History Of The Tournament

In 1881, the first U.S. National Championships were held at the Newport Casino in Rhode Island, pitting male tennis players against one another on grass courts. Players had to be a member of the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association to qualify, and the tournament remained pretty much the same until 1887 when women were first allowed to take part. In 1889, women’s doubles were added to the mix, with mixed doubles added in 1892.

The US Open garnered fans from across the nation, prompting a move to the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York in 1915 to cope with the large audiences. The year 1968 marks the first US Open proper: the first US tennis championship in the open era (hence the name change), meaning amateurs and professionals could compete alongside one another – still on grass courts. The move away from grass came in 1975 when there was a brief, three year stint on clay. But the big change to hard courts came in 1978 along with the move to the USTA National Tennis Center, which still hosts the tournament today. As of 2006, it is the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, dedicated to the famous American champion tennis player.

When Is The 2024 Tournament?

The 2024 US Open will take place from 26 August until 8 September 2024.

Who Are The Defending Champions?

The 2024 US Open is the 144th edition of the tournament, and the defending champions are:

• Men’s singles: Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
• Women’s singles: Coco Gauff (United States)
• Men’s doubles: Rajeev Ram (United States) & Joe Salisbury (United Kingdom)
• Women’s doubles: Gabriela Dabrowski (Canada) & Erin Routliffe (New Zealand)
• Mixed doubles: Anna Danilina (Kazakhstan) & Harri Heliövaara (Finland)
• Wheelchair men’s singles: Alfie Hewett (United Kingdom)
• Wheelchair women’s singles: Diede de Groot (Netherlands)
• Wheelchair quad singles: Sam Schröder (Netherlands)
• Wheelchair men’s doubles: Stéphane Houdet (France) & Takashi Sanada (Japan)
• Wheelchair women’s doubles: Yui Kamiji (Japan) & Kgothatso Montjane (South Africa)
• Wheelchair quad doubles: Sam Schröder (Netherlands) & Niels Vink (Netherlands)

Who Will Represent The UK?

Emma Radacanu will return to the US Open for the first time since 2022, surely hoping to replicate the magic of her surprise 2021 win. She will be joined by British women’s number one, Katie Boulter and British number 3, Harriet Dart. On the men’s side, our top three Brits Jack Draper, Cam Norrie and Dan Evans will all be vying for the trophy.

On the doubles side of things, keep your eye on returning champion Joe Salisbury who will be looking to defend his men’s doubles title with American partner Rajeev Ram. But reigning Wimbledon champion Henry Patten will be looking to change things with his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara. Neal Skupski, Jamie Murray, Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool will all also compete in the men’s draw, while Olivia Nicholls, Heather Watson and Harriet Dart will compete for the women’s doubles title.

How To Watch The US Tennis Open In The UK

In the UK, broadcast rights for the US Tennis Open are held by Sky Sports, which you can access with a Sky TV package or a NOW TV sports package. Coverage will begin at 4pm BST on 26 August, and continue every day at the same time until the women’s finals from 7pm on 7 September and the men’s finals from 7pm on 8 September.