It’s fair to say that summer 2026 has been dominated by sports. And between the Knicks’ championship run and a dramatic World Cup final, New York has been at the centre of the action. The spotlight returns to the city with the US Open, arguably the last great sporting hurrah of the summer before football – of both the “soccer” and American varieties – takes over our lives once more.

The question, of course, is what to wear. With record temperatures and multiple heatwaves, it’s hard to know how to dress right for it all right now. Even the most reliable summer staples can feel inadequate; getting dressed for a day at Flushing Meadows requires a little more consideration than simply reaching for a polo and calling it a day.

Then there is the style – or non-style, even – of the US Open itself. Unlike Wimbledon, with its instantly recognisable visual language of whites, tailoring and knitwear, the Queens-based tournament’s style identity is decidedly harder to pin down. So, it may be tempting to borrow some of the sport’s dress code.

“There’s always a sense of coastal prep to an extent in the city, but it picks up during the tournament,” says Tony Salerno, MR PORTER’s Senior Marketing Manager. “Hats and souvenirs from the day – or year – before are everywhere, and you’ll see tennis whites or sweaters peppered around the city.”

“There’s a slight uptick in tennis-inspired dressing around the Open, but New Yorkers generally resist being too on the nose,” says Jessica Schiffer, who writes the excellent tennis newsletter Hard Court on Substack. “People want to have fun with what they’re wearing, but they don’t necessarily want to look like they dressed for a tennis-themed party.”

Compared to the other three slams, the US Open is perhaps the one most shaped by its surroundings. It may be a tennis tournament, but it is increasingly a major social event that’s become the place to see and be seen at this time of year. It means that people tend to dress with a little more intention, Schiffer posits. “You see fewer purely practical, casual looks and a lot more experimentation,” she says. “You get preppy tennis references, but you also get streetwear, vintage and designer pieces, and people who look like they could be going to dinner downtown rather than a tennis match.”

The US Open is a long day out and New York in late summer can be unforgiving. This is not the time for heavy denim, restrictive tailoring or anything that requires constant adjustment. Choose natural, breathable fabrics such as linen, cotton and lightweight knits.

For Salerno, the tournament is a great chance to champion the American brands in his wardrobe. “I’m thinking Ralph Lauren white linen pants, a white knit polo and a dark blue Thom Browne sweater draped over the shoulders,” he says of his own US Open outfit. “You can’t go wrong with whites or blues at a tennis match, and linen will be a lifesaver since it can be very hot and humid, and you’ll be walking more than you think.”

You may want to eschew tennis style entirely and look to other sports for inspiration. “After the Knicks finally won a championship, I’d be shocked if we didn’t see a lot of Knicks gear at the Open,” Schiffer says. “New Yorkers have been waiting 53 years for the opportunity to wear it obnoxiously and I think we’ve earnt it.”

Expect to see plenty of orange and blue looks and, following the World Cup, more than a few football shirts. Schiffer reckons that sports jerseys have become such an established part of everyday looks that they no longer read solely as fan wear, especially when styled with relaxed trousers, sneakers and the right accessories.

This is, perhaps, the ideal formula for the occasion: a little preppy, a little sporty but polished and practical enough to survive in the New York heat. “At the end of the day, don’t overthink it,” Salerno says. “Keep it timeless and a bit elevated.”