If you’re planning your late summer around the roar of the crowd in Queens, you need to circle August 24 on your calendar. That is the official us open tennis 2025 start date for the main draw. But honestly, if you wait until then to pay attention, you’ve already missed a massive chunk of the action. This year isn't following the old "Monday morning" script we've all grown used to over the decades.
The USTA pulled a bit of a power move for the 145th edition of the tournament. For the first time in the Open Era, the US Open main draw began on a Sunday.
The US Open Tennis 2025 Start Date Shake-up
Why the change? Money and fans, basically. By moving the opening matches to Sunday, August 24, 2025, the tournament organizers managed to squeeze in a 15th day of main-draw competition. It’s a strategy we’ve already seen at the French Open and Australian Open. It works. It allows for an extra 70,000 fans to pass through the gates of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center over that first weekend.
If you were looking for the very first ball hit on property, you’d actually have to look back to Monday, August 18. That’s when the Qualifying Tournament kicked off.
Qualifying is usually the "best-kept secret" of the tournament. It's free. It’s gritty. It’s where players like 19-year-old Learner Tien or Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse fight just to get a sniff of the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium. In 2025, that qualifying window ran from August 18 through August 22.
A New Twist: The Million-Dollar Mixed Doubles
There was another weird scheduling quirk this year that caught people off guard. A brand-new mixed doubles format was introduced during "Fan Week." This wasn't the usual side-show.
From Tuesday, August 19, to Wednesday, August 20, 16 teams battled it out for a cool $1 million winner’s prize. They played short sets to four games and used no-ad scoring. It was fast, loud, and finished before the main singles draw even started. If you were looking for the traditional mixed doubles start, that didn't happen until Tuesday, August 26, but this early "high-stakes" version really shifted the energy of the opening week.
Key Milestones in the 2025 Schedule
Once the main draw got moving on that historic Sunday start, the pace was relentless. Because of the Sunday opening, the first round was spread across three days—Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
- Sunday, August 24: The "New" Opening Day. Main draw singles began.
- Sunday, August 31: The Round of 16 started for both men and women.
- Tuesday, September 2: Quarterfinals kicked off under the lights.
- Thursday, September 4: Women’s Semifinals took over the evening session.
- Friday, September 5: Men’s Semifinals. This is often the most exhausting day for fans on-site.
- Saturday, September 6: The Women’s Singles Final (4:00 p.m. ET).
- Sunday, September 7: The Men’s Singles Final (2:00 p.m. ET).
People often ask if the finals moved because of the Sunday start. Nope. The USTA kept the "Championship Weekend" exactly where it’s always been. The extra day was added to the front of the tournament, not the back. This gave players in the top half of the draw a bit more breathing room early on, which, given the humidity in New York in August, is probably a godsend.
Who the Schedule Favored
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka both had to navigate this expanded calendar. Sinner, specifically, came into the tournament with the target on his back after his 2024 dominance.
The Sunday start meant that if you were in the "Sunday" half of the draw, you potentially had two full days off before your second-round match. That’s huge for recovery. Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic were both looming in the draw, and as we saw, the scheduling of night sessions on Ashe often dictates who has the freshest legs by the time the quarterfinals roll around. Djokovic, chasing that elusive 25th Slam, actually opened his campaign on the very first Sunday night against Learner Tien.
Why the Sunday Start Matters for 2026 and Beyond
If you missed the us open tennis 2025 start date or didn't realize it had moved to Sunday, don't feel bad. A lot of longtime ticket holders were caught swapping shifts and changing flight plans. But this is the new normal.
The 15-day format is here to stay. It mimics the other Slams and maximizes TV revenue for broadcasters like ESPN. It also helps solve the perennial problem of matches finishing at 2:00 a.m. By spreading the first round over three days instead of two, the tournament can—theoretically—start matches earlier or have fewer matches scheduled per court, reducing those marathon late-night sessions that leave players and fans exhausted.
Honestly, the atmosphere in Flushing Meadows during that first Sunday was different. It felt like a holiday. There was more "Grounds Admission" energy than a typical Monday morning when everyone is sneakily watching the scores from their office cubicles.
💡 You might also like: Week 13 Power Rankings: What Most People Get Wrong
Actionable Tips for Future US Open Planning
- Watch Fan Week: If you want the US Open experience without the $300 price tag, go the week of August 18. The qualifying matches are intense and the "Legends" matches are usually happening on the outer courts.
- The Sunday Ticket: If the Sunday start continues (which it will), those Day 1 tickets are going to become the hardest to get. They offer the novelty of being "first" and the energy of a weekend crowd.
- Check the Draw Release: The draw usually happens the Thursday before the main event. For 2025, that was August 21. That’s the moment you find out if your favorite player is playing on Sunday or Monday.
- Practice Courts are Gold: Use the official US Open app to see when the big stars are practicing. Sometimes seeing Alcaraz hit for 45 minutes on P1 is better than a nosebleed seat in Ashe.
The us open tennis 2025 start date was more than just a day on a calendar; it was a fundamental shift in how the final Grand Slam of the year operates. If you're looking ahead to 2026, expect the same Sunday-to-Sunday 15-day gauntlet.
Actionable Next Steps:
Check the official USTA ticket portal roughly six months in advance to secure "Opening Sunday" seats, as the 15-day format has significantly increased demand for the first weekend. Additionally, download the US Open app in early August to track the Qualifying Draw and practice schedules, which remain the most cost-effective way to see top-10 talent up close.