NEW YORK — Coco Gauff glanced up at one of many 35-foot-wide video boards excessive atop Arthur Ashe Stadium throughout a U.S. Open match final week and caught a glimpse of superstar couple Justin and Hailey Bieber.
“I saw them immediately on the jumbotron. I don’t know if the camera saw me looking up,” mentioned Gauff, who reached the semifinals in New York for the primary time with a victory in Ashe on Tuesday. “I hoped if I lost the match, they weren’t going to blame it on that.”
The stars aren’t simply on the court docket at Flushing Meadows, the place the see-and-be-seen set can be within the suites and seats within the 23,000-plus-seat predominant enviornment. From the Biebers to the Obamas, from New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers to New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, from retired ski racer Lindsey Vonn to director Spike Lee, the bold-faced names maintain swinging by the U.S. Open.
“Some of them have a passion for tennis. Some of them want to see a specific player,” U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier mentioned. “Frances Tiafoe brings people that want to see him. Coco Gauff, for sure. Novak Djokovic, too. No disrespect to any of them, but Roger Federer and Serena Williams were at a different level. When it comes to famous people wanting to watch famous people play, no one comes close to those two.”
For the celebs, it’s an opportunity to see some high-level tennis at no cost and get some free publicity.
For the match, it’s an opportunity to realize an additional little bit of consideration and place itself as an aspirational occasion.
Sometimes the well-known of us ask for tickets. Sometimes they’re invited by the USTA, which makes use of an outdoor agency to assist contact publicists, managers and brokers and can present rides to and from the match.
“If we know somebody’s in town – maybe they’re shooting a movie, maybe they’re shooting a television series, maybe they’re here for the (MTV Video Music Awards) – and we have a relationship with the person who handles them,” Widmaier mentioned, “we might say, ‘Hey, by the way, if so-and-so is interested, we’d love to host them if their schedule permits.’”
And generally a participant points the invitation.
Tiafoe, a 25-year-old from Maryland on Tuesday’s quarterfinal schedule, organized for rapper Pusha T to be at certainly one of his matches this yr.
“My agent took care of him. I got him courtside. That was pretty cool,” Tiafoe mentioned. “As soon as I saw him there … I wanted to dap him up and say thanks for coming out. It was good. Obviously the U.S. Open put that on Instagram right away. Pretty smart.”
Make no mistake: The gamers are conscious of who’s there.
“I notice when they’re watching,” mentioned defending males’s champion Carlos Alcaraz, who received in entrance of singer J Balvin and actor Ben Stiller on Monday. “Sometimes, (I think), ‘Oh, my God, he’s there or she’s there.’ It’s crazy.”
Yes, the celebrities from the worlds of leisure, politics and different sports are a success with the gamers – particularly if they will join after a match.
“I was definitely starstruck with Justin Bieber. ‘Never Say Never’ was … one of my favorite songs when I was a kid. Then ‘Baby, Oh, Baby.’ I could go through all his songs. Then Hailey, too, coming,” mentioned Gauff, a 19-year-old from Florida. “I guess it was a little date night for them, which was really cool.”
She had met first woman Michelle Obama beforehand, however not former President Barack Obama, and was thrilled to get to talk with each after they watched her win on the match’s opening night time.
“I wasn’t sure they were here or not. I saw the Secret Service. I didn’t know if it was Mr. Biden and Mrs. Biden. I knew it was somebody. Then I heard that maybe Mr. Clinton was coming. I didn’t know who exactly it was. So I didn’t know until after the match,” Gauff mentioned. “I’m going to never forget that moment for the rest of my life.”
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