It's no secret that celebrities love the US Open. But one famous face—basketball star Jimmy Butler—has turned the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center into his own personal playground in 2023, thanks to of the tournament's most special talents.
The six-time NBA All-Star has been a mainstay in the crowd for Coco Gauff's first three wins in Queens this year.
Butler, the star of Gauff's favorite team, the Miami Heat, overcame childhood adversity to become one of basketball's best players, and is known for his dogged style of play on the hardwood.
Gauff's been doing her best to channel the spirit of the man they call "Jimmy Buckets" in the Open's first week.
In two of those matches, in Round 1 against Laura Siegemund and Round 3 against Elise Mertens, she rallied from a set down to win. The 19-year-old is now through to the fourth round in Flushing for the second time, and she's now 14-1 since a shock first-round loss at Wimbledon to fellow American Sofia Kenin.
It's a run that's had all the hallmarks of the never-say-die attitude that Butler's made famous.
"He has that mentality really of, you know, no matter what the odds are against him, he's gonna give it his all," Gauff said after her second-round win over Mirra Andreeva. "I think he's just one of those athletes [where] the mentality makes his game even better. You have people that are talented and don't have the mentality.
"I think he has the talent and the mentality. It's just taking him even further. ... Realistically, between two weeks or between Wimbledon and the next tournament I played, nothing could have really changed that much. It was really just the mental thing. I think that's what I learned from watching Jimmy compete over the years."
The No. 6 seed next faces former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki for a spot in the US Open quarterfinals. Will Butler—or other celebrities who've been spotted at her matches so far this fortnight—be back for this highly-anticipated fourth-round match?
Gauff sure hopes so.
"I've come to the Open for years. Being a fan, just looking in the crowd to see who's coming, looking in the president box, the suites, to see who's there, now being a player, it's really crazy," she said. "I'm really honored I guess that people spend Friday night watching me play tennis.
"I was definitely starstruck with Justin Bieber. 'Never Say Never' was like the first, I think 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. I guess it was a little date night for them, which was really cool.
"Jimmy Butler, he's come to a couple of my matches. I wasn't as surprised he was there. I still am like, 'Man, this guy is busy, why is he coming to watch me play?' It's a really cool experience. I'm just happy I guess and really honored."
