US Open Fan Week

US Open Fan Week

Aug 25, 2026

Affordability. It’s a word that’s been batted back and forth in the news of late, and will certainly continue to be for the foreseeable future. And it is particularly pertinent to highlight affordability in discussing Fan Week at the US Open, for not only is this something that is affordable, it is actually FREE to attend. Coming close on the heels of World Cup Soccer festivities, which featured luxury pricing on everything from tickets to water bottles to paper plates, etc., it is a welcome relief for tapped-out sports fans in the metropolitan area. While it could be dismissed as throwing tennis fans a bone who do not want or cannot pay to attend the official US Open tournament, which begins on Sunday, August 30th, the fact is that in many ways Fan Week is more fun to attend than the Open itself. Yes, you can watch the best tennis players in the world batting tennis balls back and forth in a fun atmosphere and at no cost.

It can be a difficult balance for a sporting event to appease the entire spectrum of its desired fan base, and Fan Week goes a long way in addressing that. It has only been within the last decade that this week has come into existence. Indeed, ten years ago, this week was known only as “qualies,” where players ranked outside the top 100 competed to qualify for the main draw of the US Open. At the time, the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center only saw attendance of a few thousand fans a day. Even still, Florida Tennis was urging fans to come out those days to see some great tennis up close, along with the top “names” of the sport practicing for the main event the following week.

The opportunity and benefit of drawing fans to this week hit home only a few years ago, and they’ve done a very good job promoting it. Along with watching the stars of tomorrow playing in the qualifying matches, fans can get a lot closer to their tennis idols during Fan Week than they will once the actual tournament begins. And those players are almost universally in a fan-friendly mood: You’ve got a lot better chance of getting signatures on those big tennis balls this week than at any other time. While the crowds have increased dramatically over the last few years, it is still only about half as many people on site as there will be the following week. It makes moving around far easier; there are far fewer restrictions and lines.

Actually, the main place you will see lines is at the many little giveaway kiosks set up by several of the partners, sponsors and merchants at the Open. If you are willing to wait in lines ranging anywhere from about 10–25 minutes, you can pick up lots of little knickknacks. Fan Week goes on, you guessed it, all this week.