US Open officially

U.S. Open, formally known as the United States Open Tennis Championships, is an international tennis tournament, the fourth and final of the major events that make up the annual Grand Slam (the other events include the Australian Open, the French Open, and the Wimbledon Championships).

Timeframe and categories

The U.S. Open is held every year over a two-week period in late August and early September.  The 2018 tournament schedule can be right here. Following the 1978 edition, all the U.S. Open matches have been played on the acrylic hard courts of the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) National Tennis Center (renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006) in Flushing Meadows, Queens, N.Y. The U.S. Open consists of five main categories: men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles. What makes the tournament one of a kind among all other Grand Slam events is the fact that tiebreakers are played in the final sets (the fifth set for men and the third set for women), instead of continuing play in the deciding set until a player has won by two games.

Championships development

The U.S. Open stemmed from one of the oldest tennis championships in the world: the U.S. National Championship, which was established in 1881 as a national men’s singles and doubles competition. The competition was open only to clubs that were the U.S. National Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA; now the USTA) members. The event expanded to include women’s singles in 1887, women’s doubles in 1889, and mixed doubles in 1892. The championships were played at different locations until 1968, when all five tournaments were finally hosted at a same site (the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, N.Y.). From then on, the championships became commonly referred to as the U.S. Open. In 1978, the tournament moved to Flushing Meadows. Throughout its history, the tournament has been played on a variety of surfaces: from 1881 to 1974, it was played on grass; from 1975 to 1977, on clay; and since 1978, on DecoTurf, a fast hardcourt surface comprising an acrylic layer over an asphalt or concrete base.

US Open venues

The main court at the U.S. Open (and the National Tennis Center’s biggest venue) is the 22,000-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, which is followed by the 10,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium, the 6,000-seat Grandstand Stadium, and smaller side courts. All courts are adjusted to night play, and the inner courts are painted blue to facilitate the tracking of the ball. Just like most major professional sports competitions, the U.S. Open is as much a media feat and tourist attraction as a sporting event, with special musical acts and family activities scheduled throughout the two-week period.

Most notable gameplays

One of the most notable moments in U.S. Open history took place in the 1992 semifinal match between American Michael Chang and Stefan Edberg of Sweden. Edberg won, but only after a backbreaking 326-minute battle, defeating Chang 6–7, 7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–4. That is believed to be the longest match in U.S. Open history. The longest women’s match in the competition’s history—in terms of number of games—was played in 1898, when the five-set match between Juliette Atkinson (the winner) and Marion Jones extended to 51 games. Arthur Ashe won the U.S. Open in 1968, but because of his amateur status (he was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army at the time) he was unable to accept the prize money. Another interesting side note in U.S. Open history is that Jimmy Connors is the only male to have won Open singles titles on all three of the US Open’s surfaces, while Chris Evert is the only woman to have won on two surfaces, winning a record six U.S. Open titles in all (1975–78, 1980, 1982).

How to stream 2018 US Open

Two main sources for 2018 US Open streaming are ESPN (both US and AUS) and Amazon Prime (UK). There are also some other options (like FOX Sports). However, as you probably are well aware, those channels have geographical restrictions. Meaning, they can be accessed only from the countries of their origins making it effectively unavailable from any other country.

Avoid geo-location

There are at least two ways to circumvent geo-fencing imposed by streaming providers. One of them is VPN – a Virtual Private Network, which creates a virtual channel and a connection to a server which is physically present in the destination country. By doing so, you seem to appear from a given country to the streaming service of your choice. An additional advantage of the solution is the fact that all your traffic is encrypted giving you the best possible online security and anonymity. A drawback of the solution is a lower speed which, in case of live HD stream, may pose a problem.

Another solution to a problem is Smart DNS. It is a technology that is used to access geo-restricted content by replacing the default DNS which is assigned by your ISP and rerouting your traffic thus masking your real location and allowing you to access geo-fenced sites from virtually any location. It is faster than VPN and allows you to access many locations at the same time but is does not have such heavy encryption mechanisms. It is also easy to set up (no additional software required) and it works on numerous devices.

Watch US Open with ESPN

If you are interested in an official coverage of 2018 US Open, you can do it via the ESPN US Open live stream. It can be done in a few simple steps:

1. Sign up for Smart DNS Proxy (if you haven’t done so already)
2. Using our VPN service connect to one of our US-based VPN servers or use our smart DNS servers to mask your location
3. Go to ESPN site (you may need to create an account with them in order to stream the matches)
4. Enjoy live coverage of matches!

Tip: ESPN is also available via such services as Sling TV or DirecTV (also supported by Smart DNS Proxy) which you can use to access ESPN.

Watch US Open with Amazon Prime

If you prefer a British take on the tournament, you may use Amazon Prime which has the UK streaming rights to the tournament. The procedure is similar (if not easier):

1. Sign up for Smart DNS Proxy (if you haven’t done so already)
2. Using our VPN service connect to one of our UK VPN servers or use our smart DNS servers to mask your actual location
3. Visit Amazon Prime service and start your free 30-day trial (it can effectively take you through the entire US Open tournament)
4. Watch the matches live for free!

You must not forget that Amazon Prime Video is one of the largest (if not THE largest) video libraries in the world. Just unblock it with us and find out yourself how immense its offer is. Even if you are not really a sports fan, the number and kinds of titles available with Amazon Prime will make you feel dizzy.

Not just sporting events

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