US Open's Main Draw Now Stretches Into a Third Week, and Some Players Aren't Happy
Is stretching the US Open into a three-week event good for tennis? The 2026 US Open has effectively become a three-week event. What was once a compact two-week Grand Slam now includes a full week of qualifying and mixed doubles before the singles main draw even begins, a shift that started when the tournament moved its main draw opener to a Sunday last year. This year, defending champions Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz didn't open their title defenses until the event was already a week old.
USTA CEO Craig Tiley was asked this week how he hopes to keep growing the tournament, a question some players took as a sign more expansion could be coming. Marta Kostyuk, the No. 11 seed from Ukraine, said she hopes the event doesn't creep earlier into the week and voiced concern about a schedule that already leaves little room to recover between rounds. The men's draw features Novak Djokovic chasing a 25th major, while Jannik Sinner is sitting out with a knee injury and Alcaraz is returning from a wrist injury sustained in April.
The case for:
A longer event means more days of ticket sales, broadcast windows, and sponsorship inventory for a tournament that already commands record prize money.
Spacing matches out over more days could reduce back-to-back scheduling and give players more recovery time between rounds.
The case against:
Players like Kostyuk say the calendar is already overcrowded, and stretching a major across three weeks eats into the short offseason before the next tour swing.
A longer tournament dilutes the sense of urgency that sets a two-week major apart from the rest of the tour calendar.
Extra early days without marquee matchups risk thinner crowds and smaller TV audiences before the second week begins.
What's your take?
Is stretching the US Open into a three-week event good for tennis? Yes 
No 
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