US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium: third-round day session
The US Open is entering the part of the tournament where there is no longer room for a slow start to a match. Day Session 11 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, September 4 begins at 11:30, with third-round matches in the men's and women's singles scheduled on the main court. Gates for the day session open at 9:30, giving visitors enough time for security screening, a tour of the complex and finding their seats before the first match on Ashe.
The third round is an important turning point in a Grand Slam. Players have already had to get through two matches, the physical strain begins to accumulate, and the winner advances to the final 16. In the men's singles, that can mean another best-of-five-set match after several hours of play, while in the women's singles it is already becoming clear who has found their rhythm on New York's hard courts. For the crowd, this is the stage at which the draw begins to offer more meetings between seeded players and players in good form.
The exact matchups for Arthur Ashe Stadium on September 4 have not yet been determined. The schedule for that session will depend on the results of the first two rounds, so there is no point in assigning specific names in advance to the 11:30 time slot. What has been confirmed is the stage of the competition and the format of the day session. Tickets for this event are in demand.
What the third round brings in the men's draw
The men's tournament in New York has taken on a different structure following Jannik Sinner's withdrawal because of a problem with his right knee. Alexander Zverev is therefore the top seed, while defending champion Carlos Alcaraz enters as the second seed. Felix Auger-Aliassime is third, Novak Djokovic fourth, followed by Flavio Cobolli, Alex de Minaur, Daniil Medvedev and Ben Shelton.
Alcaraz is one of the biggest unknowns of the first week because of his lack of competitive rhythm. Following an injury to his right wrist, he has not played a singles match since April, and the US Open is his first tournament after a break of several months. He began the season by winning the Australian Open, but in New York the key question will be how quickly he regains his serving rhythm, timing on the return and confidence in long rallies. His first opponent is Roman Safiullin.
Zverev arrives in New York with clearer continuity. This year he won Roland Garros, reached the Wimbledon final and had an 18-2 record at Grand Slam tournaments in 2026 before the US Open. His serve and stability from the baseline are particularly important on a hard court, where shorter points can reduce physical expenditure during a best-of-five-set match. Lorenzo Sonego awaits him in the first round.
Djokovic is in the same half of the draw as Alcaraz. Their head-to-head record before the tournament is 5-5, and a possible meeting can occur only in the semifinals if both make it that far. The bottom half of the draw also contains all the men in the tournament who have previously won the US Open: Alcaraz, Djokovic, Medvedev, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. Wawrinka, the 2016 champion, is playing his final US Open before retiring and meets Matteo Berrettini in the first round.
Among the players in good North American form are Frances Tiafoe, a Cincinnati finalist after three victories over Top 15 players, Brandon Nakashima, a Montreal finalist and Cincinnati semifinalist, and Taylor Fritz, the Washington champion.
For a third-round visitor, this is important context. What matters is not only who has the higher ranking, but who has preserved their energy and serve through the first two rounds. On Ashe, the difference can often be seen in just a few points: the first-serve percentage in a crucial game, the quality of the first return after 30-30, or the ability to immediately return to the structure of the game after losing a set.
The women's tournament has more open paths toward the closing stages
Aryna Sabalenka is defending the title she won in 2024 and 2025 and is the top seed. She plays Camila Osorio in the first round. Jessica Pegula and Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova are also in the top half of the draw, while Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva are in the bottom half.
Sabalenka's game on hard courts naturally suits New York conditions: a powerful first serve, an early shot after the serve and the ability to quickly take control of the middle of the court. During the North American part of the season, her results were not completely linear, but in early August, after defeating Zhang Shuai in Toronto, she had a 25-1 record on hard courts in 2026. That figure provides a good illustration of how difficult it is to knock her out of rhythm when the opening shots of the point are working.
Gauff arrives with the Cincinnati title, while Swiatek comes in after winning Toronto. That makes them particularly interesting to follow in the opening rounds, because both enter New York with recently confirmed hard-court form. Alexandra Eala won her first WTA title in Washington during the summer and, according to the draw projection, could play Iva Jovic in the third round. That is only a possible matchup, not a confirmed match for Arthur Ashe Stadium.
One of the tournament's special stories is also the return of Venus Williams. The two-time US Open champion received a wild card for the main draw and plays Sofia Kenin in the first round. The winner of that match could face Jessica Pegula in the second round. Such draw paths explain why the list of stars for the third round cannot be turned in advance into the schedule for one specific session.
How the hard court changes the match you watch live
The US Open is played on a Laykold hard court. It rewards players who take the ball early, serve well and can attack an opponent's second serve, but it does not reduce the match to power alone. High-quality returning and depth of shot often determine who will take the initiative first.
From the lower levels of the stands, the speed of the first serve and the height of the bounce can be felt more clearly, while the higher sections provide a better view of the geometry of the point: opening the court with the serve, transitioning from defense to attack and positioning behind the baseline.
With players such as Zverev or Sabalenka, the opening shots often establish the entire structure of the point. With Alcaraz, Gauff or Djokovic, the crowd can follow a different pattern - defense turning into attack in a single shot, changes in height and pace, and attempts to find the opponent's weaker side. That is precisely why the third round often provides an interesting contrast of styles, even when the players on court are not the matchup that had been imagined in advance as the day's "main" match.
Arthur Ashe Stadium is not just one seat for one match
Arthur Ashe Stadium opened in 1997 and has 23,771 seats. The retractable roof, introduced for the US Open in 2016, can be closed in approximately six and a half minutes. That does not mean weather conditions have no effect on the tournament, but the main court has significantly greater resistance to rain delays than the open courts.
A day-session ticket for Arthur Ashe Stadium provides a reserved seat in that stadium for the corresponding session, while also allowing access to the other courts and stadiums within the same session, subject to seat availability. That is particularly valuable on September 4 because, in addition to the third round of singles, the complex is also scheduled to host the first round of men's and women's doubles and junior singles qualifying.
- Gates for the day session open at 9:30.
- The first match in Arthur Ashe Stadium begins at 11:30.
- Arthur Ashe Stadium has 23,771 seats.
- The day session is number 11.
- The third round of men's and women's singles is played at the complex on the same day.
It is worth arriving earlier and spending part of the time on the outside courts, where the distance to the players is smaller and the rhythm of play feels more immediate. Returning to Ashe then changes the scale of the experience.
Seats are disappearing quickly.
The rhythm of watching tennis live differs from other sports
A tennis match has no predetermined duration. Women's singles is played as best of three sets, while men's singles is played as best of five sets, so the day's schedule can shift if the first match goes to a long deciding set or if several games are extended by repeated deuces. A visitor therefore should not plan the day as a sequence of fixed two-hour slots.
The crowd becomes quiet before the serve, and after a long point the reaction can be extremely loud. That shift from silence to a wave of noise is one of the distinctive elements of watching tennis on Ashe.
The third round further intensifies the mental element. After two wins, players already have a feel for the conditions, but also carry more physical strain. A tie-break, a saved break point or one poor service game can abruptly change the course of the match. In a men's match there is also more room for a comeback after losing two sets, creating a different kind of tension from the shorter format.
Getting to Flushing and planning your entry
The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center is located in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, New York. The nearest station is Mets-Willets Point. Subway line 7 serves the station and connects the area with parts of Manhattan, including Grand Central, while the Long Island Rail Road also runs to Mets-Willets Point. Because parking is limited, organizers recommend public transportation.
A designated zone for rideshare vehicles is located by the New York Hall of Science, from where a pedestrian route leads toward Champion's Entry. For visitors arriving by car, traffic is directed toward parking areas around the complex, so it is wise to allow extra time because of congestion and security screening.
For visitors coming to New York for tennis, it is practical that the complex is connected to the rest of the city by subway and rail, so accommodation does not have to be located immediately next to the stadium.
What to check before departure
It is worth checking the entry rules immediately before arriving. Currently, one bag per person is allowed, up to maximum dimensions of 12 x 12 x 16 inches, subject to security screening. Backpacks are prohibited apart from certain exceptions, and glass bottles, cans, laptops, selfie sticks, tennis rackets and a range of other items may not be brought into the complex. Reusable metal or plastic water bottles are allowed up to 24 ounces.
Everyone passes through security screening, so the 9:30 gate opening provides a useful window for screening and finding your seat before the 11:30 start.
For entry, it is important to prepare your mobile ticket in advance in a digital wallet or the US Open app. Screenshots and email confirmations are not accepted as barcodes for entry.
How to make the most of the day session
If the outside courts offer an interesting doubles or singles match, part of the day can be spent there before returning to the reserved seat in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The third round still offers many simultaneous matches, but the stakes are already serious.
Follow the schedule immediately before the event, because only the results of the first and second rounds will determine who can play on Friday. It is particularly worth paying attention to the paths of the seeds through the draw: Alcaraz and Djokovic are in the same half, Zverev leads the top half, while the women's tournament places Sabalenka, Pegula, Gauff, Rybakina, Swiatek and Andreeva in different quarters.
If Ashe brings together a player with a dominant serve and an elite returner, watch the first two balls after the serve. If two players who like long rallies meet, observe who changes direction down the line first and who defends the second serve better. In a close match, the points after 30-30, break points and the tie-break often carry the greatest weight, where technical quality turns into a test of decision-making under pressure.
It is worth securing tickets in time. The September 4 day session combines a reserved seat in the main stadium with the opportunity to follow the broader program throughout the complex, and the third round is precisely the stage at which one long match can completely change the mood and rhythm of the entire day.
Sources:
- US Open - 2026 tournament schedule, gate-opening time, start of Day Session 11 and stages of competition
- US Open - men's draw overview, seeds, Jannik Sinner's withdrawal and current form stories
- US Open - women's draw overview, seeds and possible matchups in later rounds
- ATP Tour - Carlos Alcaraz's return, his season record and the structure of the men's draw
- WTA - Aryna Sabalenka's current form and an overview of the US Open draw and hard-court results
- USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center - information on public transportation and getting there
- US Open - bag rules, security screening, prohibited items and mobile-ticket rules
- US Open - information on Arthur Ashe Stadium, capacity and retractable roof
- Laykold - information on the US Open hard court