The US Open's mixed doubles competition opens today at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York, pairing tennis royalty with the sport's current generation. Serena Williams will step onto the court alongside Carlos Alcaraz, while top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic headline a field also featuring Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper, and Venus Williams paired with Alexander Bublik. Qualifying rounds for the singles brackets continue in parallel, marking a packed opening stretch for the year's final Grand Slam.
For viewers without a cable subscription, watching live requires some planning. ESPN holds exclusive broadcast rights in the United States, meaning access depends on a streaming package that includes the network - whether through DirecTV, ESPN Unlimited, Fubo, Sling, or YouTube TV. Those traveling abroad or living outside the US often turn to a virtual private network to reach region-locked streaming platforms, since a VPN reroutes internet traffic through a server in another country, making it appear as though the connection originates there. Cost-conscious viewers exploring this route sometimes look for a cheaper alternative to expressvpn that still offers reliable server coverage and consistent streaming speeds without the premium price tag. cheaper alternative to expressvpn
Why Location Matters for Streaming Access
Geo-restrictions exist because broadcasters negotiate rights on a country-by-country basis, which is why a service available in Australia might be inaccessible in the United States, and vice versa. A VPN works around this by encrypting a user's connection and assigning them an IP address tied to a chosen country's server. This is distinct from a simple proxy, which reroutes traffic but typically skips encryption, leaving data more exposed. Tor, another anonymity tool, offers stronger privacy through multiple encrypted layers but sacrifices speed, making it impractical for live streaming.
Choosing a VPN for this purpose involves real trade-offs. Free services often log user data, inject advertising, or throttle bandwidth, undermining the very privacy users seek. Paid providers with transparent no-logging policies and servers spread across many countries tend to offer more consistent performance for streaming high-definition video without buffering.
A Tournament Steeped in History
First held in 1881, the US Open trails only Wimbledon as the oldest Grand Slam event still contested. Its hard-court surface, shared with the Australian Open, produces faster, higher-bouncing play than the grass or clay used elsewhere on the circuit. This year's event runs from August 23 through September 13, with mixed doubles, singles qualifying, standard doubles, junior, and wheelchair competitions each occupying distinct windows across the three-week schedule.
The 2026 field includes seventeen former Grand Slam singles champions, ten of them previous US Open winners, among them Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz, and Djokovic on the men's side, and Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and Jessica Pegula among the women. The United States fields the largest contingent of any nation, with twenty-eight players in the main draw, including Coco Gauff, Ben Shelton, and Taylor Fritz, underscoring the depth of the American tennis renaissance.
