If you went looking for US Open tickets this year and came up empty, the consolation prize in Los Angeles is better than it sounds — but only if you plan around the clock rather than around the bar. The 2026 tournament runs from 24 August to 13 September at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, and the finals weekend is the 12th and the 13th. Both of those are morning-into-afternoon events on this coast, and that single fact rules out most of the places you would otherwise consider.
A tennis final at eleven in the morning is a very different booking problem from a football night. Ask Karpo which rooms near you are open early this weekend and which will put the match on the main screen rather than a corner television.
Work out the Pacific start time first
New York is three hours ahead, and that flips the whole plan. The women's singles final is scheduled for Saturday 12 September at four in the afternoon Eastern, which is one in the afternoon here — a civilised time that most bars are comfortably open for. The men's final follows on Sunday 13 September, and men's finals at this tournament traditionally go on in the early afternoon Eastern, which puts a Los Angeles start somewhere around late morning.
Late morning is the hard part. A large share of Los Angeles bars do not open until noon or later, which means the room you had in mind may not be serving when the first set is played. Anywhere that opens at eleven for brunch service is a better bet than a dedicated sports bar that opens at two.
The men's final is on free-to-air, and that widens the field enormously
ESPN carries the bulk of the tournament across its channels and app, but the men's championship is broadcast on ABC. That distinction matters more than it sounds. A cable sports package is not required — any venue with a basic antenna or the most minimal television service can show it, which means restaurants, hotel bars, brunch spots and neighbourhood places that would never carry a niche cable sport are all viable rooms for the final.
It also means you have leverage when you call ahead. Asking a restaurant to put on a cable channel they may not subscribe to is a big ask; asking them to put on ABC is not. That is the single most useful sentence to have in your pocket this weekend.
Which kind of Los Angeles room actually shows tennis
The reliable category is the pub built around European football. Those rooms already open at six or seven in the morning for Premier League kickoffs, they already have the equipment, and the staff are already used to a request for a specific channel at an unusual hour. Santa Monica, Culver City, the Fairfax and Hollywood corridors and parts of the Valley all have several of these, and they are the ones to call first.
The second category is the hotel bar, which will have the television on, will be open at eleven, and will not mind a person watching tennis over a long brunch. The third is the neighbourhood restaurant with a bar section, which is the best option for a group of four or more because you can sit at a table and eat properly rather than standing at a rail for three hours.
The category to avoid is the large, loud, multi-screen sports barn on a Sunday in September, because the screens will belong to American football and tennis will get a small television near the toilets, if it gets one at all. This is the single most common way an LA tennis plan goes wrong.
How to actually secure the room
Call, do not message. Ask three specific questions: what time do you open on Saturday and Sunday, do you get ABC, and will you put the tennis on the main screen with sound. Get a name. Turn up thirty minutes early, because a bar that opens at eleven with one large screen will be claimed by whoever arrives first and no amount of prior arrangement survives a full room. If you are a group, book a table rather than hoping for bar stools, and if the venue takes reservations at all, use them — a Sunday in mid-September is also the second week of the American football season, and you are competing for the same screens.
Watching it properly at home instead
The honest alternative is worth stating, because for a mid-morning final it is frequently the better plan. A men's final on free-to-air television, at home, with people you invited, costs nothing and gives you the sound, the seat and the ability to pause. The version of this that works in Los Angeles is a late brunch built around it: something that can sit on a table for three hours rather than a meal that has to be served, a taqueria or bakery run made before the first serve, and a start time agreed thirty minutes before the broadcast rather than at it. If half the group is uncertain about tennis, the crowd in the room does more for that than any bar will.
Practical notes
2026 US Open: 24 August to 13 September, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York. Women's singles final Saturday 12 September, 4pm Eastern, which is 1pm Pacific. Men's singles final Sunday 13 September, broadcast on ABC — expect a late-morning Pacific start and confirm the exact time on the day. ESPN and the ESPN app carry the rest of the tournament. Because the men's final is on ABC, no cable sports package is needed and any venue with basic television service can show it. Best rooms: pubs that open early for European football, hotel bars, and neighbourhood restaurants with a bar section. Worst option: large multi-screen sports bars on a September Sunday, where American football will own the main screens. Call ahead, ask about opening time and ABC specifically, get a name, and arrive 30 minutes early.
Tags: #USOpenTickets #USOpen2026 #LosAngeles #WatchParty #TennisLA #SportsBars #ABCBroadcast #SantaMonica #CulverCity #Hollywood #WeekendPlans #LAEvents #TennisFinals #GrandSlam
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Ask Karpo first
Finals weekend schedules shift with rain delays and long semi-finals, and a bar that promised you the main screen can change its mind by Sunday. Ask Karpo what time the match actually starts in Pacific time, which Los Angeles rooms near you are open and showing it, and where to move if the place you picked has given the big screen to football.
