The US Open runs on Eastern Time, which means West Coast viewers either wake up early or miss half the tournament. Day sessions at Flushing Meadows start around 11am ET—8am Pacific—and night sessions begin around 7pm ET, which is a manageable 4pm on the West Coast. If you're in SoMa and want to watch on a big screen with a beer, the math gets more complicated, because most bars don't open at 8am and the tournament's two-week schedule from August 30 through September 13 spans weekdays, weekends, early rounds, and finals. The Chieftain, the Irish pub and sports bar at Fifth and Folsom, is the neighborhood's most consistent tennis-friendly venue, but their hours—4pm weekdays, noon weekends—mean you'll catch night sessions and final-weekend action more easily than early-round day matches.
Karpo tracks live US Open match times converted to Pacific Time and shows you which SoMa bars are open for each session, from early-round day matches to championship weekend.
The East Coast time-zone math
The 2026 US Open runs August 30 through September 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens. Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium each host separate day and night sessions through the quarterfinals, and those sessions drive the West Coast viewing reality. Day sessions typically begin around 11am Eastern Time, which translates to 8am Pacific. Night sessions start around 7pm ET—4pm PT. The USTA publishes the full order of play the evening before each day, listing every match by court and session, so you know by dinnertime which matches will be on at breakfast and which will be on during your commute home.
The tournament structure matters for planning. First through third rounds run August 30 through September 5, with both day and night sessions daily. The round of sixteen spans September 6–7, quarterfinals September 8–9. Women's semifinals are Thursday evening, September 10; men's semifinals are split across day and night sessions Friday, September 11. The women's final is Saturday afternoon, September 12, and the men's final is Sunday afternoon, September 13. Those final-weekend matches will start mid-morning Pacific Time, which means bars that open at noon will catch the second and third sets.
ESPN holds full US broadcast rights. Featured matches air on ESPN and ESPN2, and every court streams on ESPN+. If you want to follow a specific player on an outer court rather than whatever ESPN is broadcasting on Ashe, you need ESPN+ and a bar willing to pull up a stream. Most sports bars stick to the main ESPN feed, which prioritizes the biggest names and the latest rounds.
The Chieftain's weekday-weekend split
The Chieftain sits at 198 Fifth Street in SoMa, a block south of Folsom, and operates as both an Irish pub and a sports bar with multiple large-screen TVs and surround sound. Their sports calendar covers international soccer, rugby, NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, and NHL, and they explicitly advertise tennis among their offerings. The venue opens at 4pm Monday through Thursday, noon on Friday, and noon on weekends. That weekday schedule creates a US Open problem: day sessions starting at 8am Pacific won't be on at The Chieftain until the weekend or until you take a late lunch and catch the tail end of a five-setter.
Their sports calendar page states that all games are subject to change and directs patrons to call 415-615-0916 to confirm a specific match will be available. That's not pro forma language—it means if you want to watch a particular quarterfinal at 8am on Tuesday, September 8, you need to call ahead and ask if they're opening early or if they'll have it on when doors open at 4pm. The bar runs daily happy-hour and lunch specials, and their food menu is made fresh daily, which suggests kitchen prep schedules that might not accommodate a sudden 8am open for tennis.
Once the weekend arrives and the tournament reaches the semifinals and finals, The Chieftain's noon opening aligns better with the Pacific Time schedule. The women's final on Saturday, September 12, and the men's final on Sunday, September 13, will both start in the afternoon Eastern Time, which is late morning Pacific—so a noon opening catches the middle and closing sets. The bar is rated as one of the top sports venues in San Francisco, and they pour Guinness and carry an extensive beer and cocktail list, which makes it a plausible home base for a multi-hour final.
Early-round day sessions and the breakfast problem
The first week of the US Open is a scheduling gauntlet. August 30 through September 2 are first-round days; September 3–4 are second round; September 5 is the final day of third-round play. Each of those days has a day session starting around 8am Pacific and a night session starting around 4pm Pacific. If you want to watch a featured first-round match on Arthur Ashe at 8am on a Tuesday, you're looking for a bar that opens for breakfast or a coffee shop with a TV, neither of which is The Chieftain's model.
SoMa as a neighborhood skews toward lunch and evening service. The district is office-heavy, and most bars and restaurants open for lunch or mid-afternoon. That means the early-round day sessions are more of a home-viewing or coffee-shop proposition unless you find a hotel bar or a diner with ESPN. The night sessions, starting at 4pm Pacific, land right when The Chieftain opens on weekdays, so if you're targeting a night match during the first week, you can walk in at 4pm and catch the start.
The third-round weekend—Saturday, September 5—is the first time The Chieftain's noon weekend hours overlap with a day session. By then, the draw has narrowed, and the matches on Ashe are higher stakes. If you're planning to make The Chieftain your US Open headquarters, mark September 5 as the first realistic day-session opportunity, and then count on the second weekend for semifinals and finals.
Night sessions and the commute-home window
Night sessions at the US Open are the Pacific Time viewer's friend. A 7pm Eastern start is 4pm Pacific, which is when The Chieftain opens Monday through Thursday and well within weekend hours. The night session typically features one or two marquee matches, often the top seeds or the most compelling storylines, and ESPN's main broadcast prioritizes those matches. If you're leaving a SoMa office at 5pm or 6pm, you're walking into the middle of the first night match, and the bar will have it on.
The quarterfinals on September 8–9 are all night sessions on the show courts, so both days will have matches starting at 4pm Pacific and running into the evening. The women's semifinals on Thursday, September 10, are scheduled for evening, which likely means a start time around 4pm or 5pm Pacific. The men's semifinals on Friday, September 11, are split into day and night sessions, so one match will be mid-morning Pacific and the other will be evening Pacific. The Chieftain's Friday noon opening catches the tail of the day semifinal and the full night semifinal.
The bar's phone number—415-615-0916—is listed on every page of their site, and the sports calendar specifically instructs patrons to call to confirm game availability. That's worth doing for semifinals and finals, since those are the matches that draw standing-room crowds and might prompt the bar to adjust their setup or seating policy.
Finals weekend and the noon opening
The women's final on Saturday, September 12, is scheduled for afternoon Eastern Time, which typically means a start around 1pm or 2pm ET—10am or 11am Pacific. The Chieftain opens at noon, so you'll miss the first set or two unless they open early. The men's final on Sunday, September 13, follows the same pattern: an afternoon Eastern start that translates to late morning Pacific. If you're committed to watching from the first serve, call ahead and ask if they're opening at 11am for finals weekend. If not, plan to arrive at noon and watch the final sets.
The bar has free Wi-Fi, which is useful if you want to follow the live scores on your phone during a long changeover or if you're tracking a different match on an outer court via ESPN+. Their drink specials run daily, and the food menu includes Irish pub standards—shepherd's pie, fish and chips, burgers. If you're settling in for a three-hour final, the lunch menu will cover you.
The Chieftain's location at Fifth and Folsom is walkable from most SoMa hotels and offices, and it's a block from the Fifth and Mission BART and Muni stop. The neighborhood fills up on weekends, especially during sporting events, so arriving 15 or 20 minutes before a final is a safer bet than arriving at first serve and finding a packed room.
Practical notes
The Chieftain is at 198 Fifth Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, phone 415-615-0916. Hours are 4pm–late Monday–Thursday, noon–late Friday–Sunday. Call ahead to confirm US Open match availability, especially for day sessions and finals. ESPN and ESPN2 coverage is standard; ESPN+ streams require a subscription and bar cooperation. The bar accepts walk-ins; no reservations are mentioned on their site. Muni and BART stop at Fifth and Mission, one block north. Street parking is metered and competitive; the Fifth and Mission Garage is two blocks away. The US Open runs August 30–September 13, 2026, with day sessions starting around 8am PT and night sessions around 4pm PT. The USTA publishes the daily order of play the evening before. Please enjoy responsibly and plan safe transportation.
Tags: #USOpen2026 #SanFranciscoTennis #SoMaSportsBars #TheChieftain #TennisViewing #PacificTimeZone #SanFranciscoBars #FlushingMeadows #GrandSlamTennis #SFSportsBars #USOpenSchedule #EarlyMorningTennis #SoMaNeighborhood #SanFranciscoSports #TennisBar
Please drink responsibly. Must be of legal drinking age.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Ask Karpo first
Planning your US Open viewing schedule around SoMa? Ask Karpo which bars near Fifth and Mission are open for the 8am day sessions, what the crowd size looks like at The Chieftain during quarterfinals week, or where to catch the women's final on September 12 with outdoor seating options nearby.
