ABC drew 3.2 million viewers for the U.S. Open men's final between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton, a record for the network's tennis window. Elena Rybakina took the women's title in a final that aired on ESPN2, her second Grand Slam after Wimbledon 2022.
The men's number represents a 22% lift over last year's final and the strongest U.S. Open men's audience on linear broadcast since 2019. Zverev-Shelton went four sets, finished before 6pm Eastern, and held a 2.1 rating in the 18-49 demo. Rybakina's straight-sets win over Iga Świątek drew 1.1 million on cable, down slightly from the prior year but ahead of the five-year Saturday women's final average. The USTA does not break out streaming figures separately but said combined digital delivery added 18% to linear totals across the fortnight.
The men's final number matters because the USTA's domestic rights deal with ESPN runs through 2025, and renewal conversations are expected to open by March. ESPN pays roughly $85 million annually under the current structure. The network will point to this year's linear growth, but the USTA will note that Shelton's run—first American men's finalist since 2006—delivered a demographic spike that may not repeat. The women's final, relegated to cable for scheduling reasons, underscores a tension: Rybakina and Świątek are top-five draw names globally, yet U.S. broadcasters consistently place women's finals in lower-margin windows. The WTA has made Saturday primetime broadcast placement a sticking point in its own media conversations, and the USTA will face similar pressure if it wants to message equity while taking a nine-figure check.
Rybakina's win positions her as the only active woman other than Świątek with multiple hard-court or grass majors. She is managed by IMG, wears Nike, and has endorsement deals with Yonex, Porsche, and several Kazakh state-linked sponsors. Her Wimbledon title came while representing Kazakhstan—she switched federations from Russia in 2018—but the ATP/WTA have quietly encouraged equipment sponsors to pitch her as a crossover asset into Middle Eastern and Central Asian markets where tennis spends are rising. Her U.S. Open check was $3.6 million, same as Zverev's.
The ratings also clarify what tennis can and cannot command in a fractured media landscape. The U.S. Open is the only Slam that sells domestic rights separately from the other three; the Australian, French, and Wimbledon packages are bundled or handled by their respective national federations with global distributors. ESPN has historically paid below the per-event rate that the NBA or college football commands, but above what any non-major tennis event can draw. If ESPN pushes for streaming-primary placement in the next deal, the USTA will have to weigh a larger guarantee against the political cost of moving finals off broadcast.
The USTA's TV committee meets in October. ESPN's rights negotiator is Burke Magnus, who also handles the College Football Playoff renewal and has spent the past six months defending linear bundling to affiliates. The gap between what the USTA can ask in a competitive process versus what ESPN can stomach in a direct renewal is roughly $30 million annually, according to two people involved in early modeling. The men's final number helps close that gap; the women's final placement does not.