New York: The US Open is expanding to 15 days this year, shifting to a Sunday start for the first time in the Open era that began in 1968.
Fans who subscribed for ticket information from the USTA were informed of the change for the season’s last Grand Slam and its new dates—August 24 to September 7—via emails sent on Wednesday. The US Tennis Association (USTA) confirmed the additional day of main draw action for the 2025 tournament in a news release.
The extra day puts the US Open in line with the Australian Open, which switched its start from Monday to Sunday a year ago, and the French Open, which was the first major to make the move when it added a 15th day in 2006.
The first round at Flushing Meadows will once again be spread over three days—Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday—but otherwise, the USTA said, “no further adjustments to the singles main draw schedule after the first round are planned.”
Under the old 14-day format, the tournament completed the opening round across three days until 2015, when it was cut back to two.
This move leaves Wimbledon as the last Grand Slam event to begin on a Monday, with action over just 14 days. The grass-court tournament remains that long only because the All England Club added play on the middle Sunday in 2022. Before that, with that traditionally being an off day, Wimbledon lasted just 13 days.
The US Open’s switch provides an opportunity to increase revenue through ticket sales and gain more exposure for the sport. The recently concluded Australian Open, for example, set attendance records in both of its 15-day editions.
The USTA stated that its top event had “record-breaking attendance in 2024.”
By now, players are accustomed to Sunday starts at Grand Slams, but when the French Open started the 15-day trend, some—including Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, who both played on that initial Sunday in 2006—were vocal about not loving the switch.