Miami Heat’s Jimmy Butler, center top, Justin Bieber, alongside his wife Hailey Bieber, watch the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Sept. 1, 2023, in New York.
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II
Coco Gauff glanced up at one of the 35-foot-wide video boards high atop Arthur Ashe Stadium during a U.S. Open match last week and caught a glimpse of celebrity couple Justin and Hailey Bieber.
“I saw them immediately on the jumbotron. I don’t know if the camera saw me looking up,” said Gauff, who was scheduled to play in the quarterfinals in Ashe on Tuesday. “I hoped if I lost the match, they weren’t going to blame it on that.”
The stars aren’t just on the court at Flushing Meadows, where the see-and-be-seen set is also in the suites and seats in the 23,000-plus-seat main arena. 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 keep 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 said. “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 a chance to see some high-level tennis for free and get some free publicity.
For the tournament, it’s a chance to gain an extra bit of attention and position itself as an aspirational event.
Sometimes the famous folks ask for tickets. Sometimes they’re invited by the USTA, which uses an outside firm to help contact publicists, managers and agents and will provide rides to and from the tournament.
“If we know somebody’s in town — maybe they’re shooting a…
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