US Open 2020: How to watch the men’s finals today on ESPN without cable

Wimbledon was canceled and the French Open was postponed until the end of September, but the US Open got underway as originally scheduled, starting on the last Monday in August. Despite starting on time, this year’s tournament has been anything but normal. 

There are no raucous New York crowds because matches are played without fans; numerous players have dropped out voluntarily; some that remained complained of the tournament’s chaotic response after Benoit Paire of France tested positive for COVID-19. And top-seeded Novak Djokovic was forced to default his fourth-round match after striking a line judge with a ball. 

After yesterday’s women’s final saw Naomi Osaka take home her third grand slam title, the tournament is down to its last match. Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev will play to determine the 2020 US Open Men’s Singles Champion and neither player has won a grand slam. It’s the first first time in six years that Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer won’t be competing in the final match of the US Open and the first time that 23-year-old Zverev has made it to any grand slam final. Thiem, 27, has appeared in three other grand slam finals but has never won, losing in the French Open final in 2018 and ’19 and the Australian Open final earlier this year.

The US Open men’s tennis championship match between Thiem and Zverev is scheduled for today, Sunday Sept. 13, at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) on ESPN.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch live from Flushing, New York, without a cable subscription.

Read more: How to watch the 2020 NBA playoffs without cable

How can I watch the US Open men’s finals on TV?

The finals will be broadcast on ESPN. You can livestream the tournament on WatchESPN.com or via the ESPN app, but you will need to prove you have a TV subscription that includes ESPN. If you don’t have a cable or satellite TV subscription, you can use a live-TV streaming service to watch the matches live; all the services listed here offer ESPN.

All of the live TV streaming services above offer free trials, allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our massive streaming services guide.

Who’s not playing?

On the men’s side, two big names were missing from this year’s tournament. They have 39 Grand Slam singles titles between them, including a combined nine US Open titles. Defending champion Rafael Nadal dropped out, citing COVID-19 concerns, while Roger Federer is on the shelf for the rest of the year after undergoing two operations on his right knee. Nick Kyrgios, Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka also skipped the tournament.

Benoit Paire, who tested positive, was seeded 17th in the men’s draw and withdrew prior to the start of the tournament.

On the women’s side, defending champion Bianca Andreescu withdrew from the tournament before it began, as did world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and No. 2 Simona Halep. Like Nadal, all three cited coronavirus concerns.