Record crowds came to watch the tennis world’s top stars compete at the 2023 US Open. Fan Week was a huge success with more than 35 thousand tennis lovers and their families passing through the gates at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York each day.
Among the highlights of the week were the qualifying matches and practice sessions that were under way round the clock in the massive tennis complex.
A record 14 thousand fans crowded into Louis Armstrong stadium for the Stars of the Open Exhibition match, which featured no. 10 in the world Frances Tiafoe versus World Number one and defending U.S. Open Champion Carlos Alvaraz in a 10-point Match Tiebreaker. Ten-time NBA All Star Jimmy Butler made a surprise appearance with the ball boy squad and stayed on to mix it up with his good friend Tiafoe in a playful one-on-one matchup.
Gale Monfit and his wife Elina Svitolina faced off against Australian Open runner up Jennifer Brady and up-and-coming tennis star Christopher Eubanks in a hilarious mixed doubles match that rounded out the star-studded evening. The event raised $320,000 for Ukrainian Relief.
Opening Day match ups promise a thrilling start for this year’s US Open. Although it will be without the drama of last year’s swan song, by the retiring Serena Williams, who kicked off this year’s tournament with the announcement of the birth of her second daughter, Adira River.
Big sister Venus Williams took to the court Monday morning as a wild card entry. Defending champion and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz is expected to once again face Novak Djokovic, whom he defeated at Wimbledon and subsequently lost to at Cincinnati. He may also face World No. 10 Frances Tiafoe, whom he defeated in last year’s semifinals.
Coco Gauff is favored to win this year’s U.S. Open in the Women’s Singles. The 19-year-old took the Cincinnati Open in a stunning victory over No. 17 Karolina Muchova after defeating World No. 1 Iga Swiatek for her first WTA 1000 title. All the action kicked off Monday morning Aug. 28 at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in New York. For more, visit and catch all the action live on ESPN and USOpen.org. Dwight Casimere is sport and entertainment reporter for thetimesweekly.com