By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, September 11, 2025
Photo credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty
NEW YORK—If you tuned into ABC see Carlos Alcaraz dethrone defending-champion Jannik Sinner in the US Open final, you had plenty of company.
Alcaraz’s four-set win over Sinner in Sunday’s final was the most viewed US Open final since Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in four sets in the 2015 Flushing Meadows final, ESPN announced.
The 15-day tournament (the US Open began with a Sunday start this year) marked ESPN’s highest-rated tennis telecast of the year.
The men’s final on Sunday averaged 3 million viewers on ABC, an 82% increase over 2024. The women’s championship, which saw Aryna Sabalenka stop American Amanda in straight sets averaged 2.4 million on ESPN, up 50% vs. 2024 when Sabalenka defeated American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5.
Quarterfinals drew their largest audience in 10 years, and early round coverage through the Round of 16 posted its best numbers since 2022.
Here are some US Open TV stats from ESPN compiled by Nilsen Big Data:
Men’s Championship:
#1 tennis telecast of the year with 3.3M viewers on ABC (match only)
ESPN’s Second Most-Viewed on Record & Most-Viewed in a Decade
3M viewers on ABC (including trophy ceremony), +82% vs. 2024
Women’s Championship:
2.4M viewers on ESPN
+50% vs. 2024
Men’s Semifinals:
1.8M viewers on ESPN
+37% vs. 2024
Women’s Semifinals:
1.8M viewers on ESPN
+62% vs. 2024
Quarterfinals: Most-Viewed Quarterfinals in 10 years
1.4M viewers on ESPN
+55% vs. 2024
More Tournament Highlights:
Most-Viewed Round of 16 since 20191.5M viewers on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2
+51% vs. 2024
Round of 16 on ABC most-viewed US Open Round of 16 telecast since 2015 (2.2M viewers)
Most-Viewed Coverage through Third Round since 2022873K viewers on ESPN, ESPN2
+28% vs. 2024
Most-Viewed Coverage through Second Round since 2022784K viewers on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2
+43% vs. 2024
Most-Viewed First Round Coverage Since 2022750K viewers on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2
+48% vs. 2024
New Sunday Start Served Up Most-Viewed Day 1 Coverage on ESPN Since 20221.2M viewers on ABC
808K viewers on ABC and ESPN2
+83% vs. 2024 Day 1 Telecasts on ESPN and ESPN2
New Mixed Doubles Championship Format During Fan Week Drove Increase in Viewership343K viewers for Semifinals and Finals on ESPN2
+31% vs. 2024 Championship (which aired on Final Thursday)
Source: Nielsen Big Data + Panel
