Whether it’s under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium or under the rays of the practice courts, the spotlight at the 2024 US Open shone brightly onto the players, as they served and smashed their way through the bracket. But there was another glow beaming from the shadows: the star-studded glimmer radiating from the biggest celebrity names in every field—from movies, music, and television, to fashion and sports—who have been filling the stands every single night and day of the Grand Slam.
This year, perhaps more than ever, being spotted at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the fortnight was a badge of honor. Even before Day 1 of tournament play, tennis fans turned up to Flushing Meadows in droves during Fan Week, breaking attendance records. Just a couple days in, the New York Post declared that this was the “premiere place to be seen,” with US Open caps becoming the trendiest accessory to strut around the city in, according to The New York Times.
The vibes out in Queens lived up to—and surpassed!—all the hype, drawing a steady stream of bold-faced names who all wanted to catch a piece of the action.
Among those who took a seat at the 2024 US Open: Olympians Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Katie Ledecky, and Jordan Chiles; sports legends Steph Curry, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Aaron Judge; musicians Alicia Keys, John Mayer, Dierks Bentley, Questlove, and Seal; TV personalities Katie Couric, Chelsea Handler, Al Roker, Stephen Colbert, and Bethenny Frankel.
The list of Hollywood names rivaled that of the Oscar, including Ben Stiller, Hugh Jackman, Jessica Biel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kerry Washington, Keegan-Michael Key, Daniel Dae Kim, Orlando Bloom, Jason Bateman, Taye Diggs, Kal Penn, Elizabeth Banks, Molly Ringwald, Laverne Cox, Phoebe Dynevor, Ashley Park, and Paul Forman. Also making appearances, Vera Wang and Anna Wintour from the fashion world, race car icon Lewis Hamilton, and of course plenty of former tennis champs, including Billie Jean King, Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Juan Martin del Potro.
And before the men's final on Sunday: the hottest couple on the planet slipped into Arthur Ashe Stadium. Yes, that's right: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
While it's hard to narrow down all the epic moments the celebrities served up at the 2024 US Open, here are some of USOpen.org's favorites:
Frances Tiafoe’s love of “Scandal”
American No. 20 seed Frances Tiafoe has been laser focused and locked into his play, taking him to the US Open semifinal for the second time. But during his Round 4 match—when he toppled No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin, who had knocked Novak Djkovic out of the tournament in round three—there was a certain fan in the stands of Arthur Ashe Stadium who caught his eye.
At the end of his on-court interview with Christopher Eubanks on Sunday, he pulled the microphone back and said, “Hold on, hold on. Sorry, sorry!” Looking upwards with the giddiest of smiles, he said, “Tony Goldwyn was in the crowd. Yo! I’m a huge fan of you, bro. Me and my girl used to watch ‘Scandal’ all the time.”
Doubling down (actually tripling down!) on the love, Tiafoe added, “I’m a huge fan, brother, I’m a huge fan, bro! I gotta say that!”
A surprise Shondaland reunion
Tiafoe may have called out President Fitzgerald Grant III from "Scandal," but he was just one slice of Shondaland that came to life in Arthur Ashe Stadium. In fact, Shonda Rhimes herself was in the house along with Goldwyn's costars Scott Foley, Bellamy Young, and Katie Loews, while ‘Grey’s Anatomy’’s Ellen Pompeo was there with husband, music producer Chris Ivery. That night, in one of the single most star-studded photos of the 2024 US Open taken just inside the President’s Entry, a group pic was snapped with Rhimes and Tiafoe in the center, flanked by all of the Shondaland family and friends, including Adam Shapiro, Jeff Perry, Marika Dominczyk, Yvone Orji, Boris Kodjoe, and Jason George, among others.
“A little-known fact: Tennis was actually my first obsession, and spending time at the #usopen is always an incredible experience!” Rhimes posted on Instagram. “We met the phenomenal @bigfoe1998 after his victory, and finding out he’s a Scandal fan in real-time was the coolest!” Later in the week, Rhimes was honored as one of the Billie Jean King Champions of Equality.
UConn Huskies basketball star Paige Bueckers was all of us when she tweeted: “Pls explain to me how this picture could be real.” Except for the fact that she’s in the star-studded photo herself too!
Jessica Pegula’s dialed into Steph Curry
During the women’s singles final, Jessica Pegula admitted that it was hard not to get starry-eyed with all the celebrities sitting right in front of her. But before the match, she and her husband Taylor Gahagen had the chance to chat with NBA star Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors, which she said was “really cool,” during her post-match press conference.
“Funny story, my husband’s iPhone name is Steph Curry,” she explaind. “If you connect to bluetooth or send him something through AirDrop, it's ‘Steph Curry's iPhone.’”
Pegula had to duck out first, and left her husband with the basketball star. Soon, she got a text from Gahagen who was “so excited.”
“He didn’t want to say anything,” she said. “I was like, ‘Please tell me you did not tell him about the iPhone thing.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, yeah, I did.’”
“I thought that was really cute,” the No. 6 seed continued. “He was like, ‘No, he loved it.’ I was like, ‘Did he? Or did he really think you were kind of crazy?’ I guess he thought it was pretty funny.”
But overall, she said it was “a cool moment for him because he's a diehard fan.”
Iga Swiatek ‘Believes’ like Ted Lasso
Tiafoe wasn’t the only one—or even the first—to shout-out a famous face in the crowd in a post-match interview.
During Iga Swiatek ’s Round of 16 match on Monday against Liudmila Samsonova, she was actively maintaining focus and not looking up at the screen, but then she caught a glimpse of Jason Sudeikis, who plays one of her favorite TV characters.
“I saw him tonight when I was looking at the chair umpire," she said in her post-match interview. "I wanted to stay focused and I hope he appreciates my mentality because this is what 'Ted Lasso' is all about."
“I hope he enjoys though, and he’s not working right now on a new series or something," she added with a laugh.
Later that night, Swiatek posted a GIF from the show on X of Sudeikis’ character tapping a “Believe” sign above a door, with the caption “QF,” having just advanced into the quarterfinal.
Kevin Hart admits he couldn’t see the match
Some might call it the bob-and-weave. Others may call it The Carlton. But for comedian Kevin Hart, all he was trying to do was watch the enticing quarterfinal match between Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov on Sept. 3.
His unique, almost dance-like style of keeping his eye on the ball painted a sharp contrast to Roger Federer, who was also at the match.
During his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon later in the week, the host asked him, "First of all, I know you're very funny, but did you know that you were doing that?"
That’s when the 5-foot-5 actor admitted: "Absolutely not. No. I gotta be just 1,000% honest. I couldn't see!”
With two young men sitting in front of him, Hart said, “It looks like I'm doing something at the boy's head. I was like, 'Move, man! Scoot down a little bit! Scoot down a little bit so I can watch. So I can see!' I don't know why he sat there. That was so selfish."
GOATS unite: Simone Biles’ wants to play ball with Serena Williams
Fresh off collecting four new Olympic medals at the Paris Games, gymnast Simone Biles headed to the US Open for the first time on Sept. 4.
On her way in, our USOpen.org social team asked her who her ideal doubles tennis partner would be. Without missing a beat, she replied: “Oh well, definitely Serena Williams! I mean she’s the GOAT in tennis, so that would be my partner, if I had to choose.”
Appropriately, Biles answered wearing a goat necklace—an approriate way for one GOAT to invite another GOAT to play ball.
'Saturday Night Live' cast enjoys golden nuggets—and plenty of tennis
Live from New York, it’s the "Saturday Night Live" cast indulging in one of the buzziest dining options at the 2024 US Open, restaurateur Simon Kim’s Coqodaq. Making its debut in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Flatiron restaurant served up its famous elevated chicken nuggets—six pieces for $100, topped with caviar or truffle.
Weekend Update co-anchor Michael Che posted an Instagram story on Sept. 1 of a half-eaten box of 24K Nugget (topped with creme fraiche and Petrossian's Golden Daurenki caviar) on his lap with the Arthur Ashe Stadium court in the background. His caption read: “I’m here to see Coco [Gauff].” After the 2023 champion lost to Emma Navarro, Che posted, "Still love Coco. But Emma did her thing. Go Sports!" Previously, he had also shared a shot of him at a bar with the Naomi Osaka vs. Karolina Muchova Round 2 match on the television screen, with the caption, “C'mon Osaka!”
His castmate Ego Nwodim, who stopped by the US Open several times this year, shared an video of her and Sudeikis encouraging a US Open staffer to try a bite of the caviar-topped nugget.
As the show preps for its 50th anniversary season premiere later this month, several other cast members also made appearances, including Bowen Yang, who attended Wednesday with TV writer Matt Whitaker, who quoted Yang’s review of the Open experience as, “I love tennis!” He returned for the men's final on Sunday with his Las Culturistas podcast cohost Matt Rogers. Cast member Devon Walker also posted shots of himself courtside for the Swiatek vs. Pegula quarterfinal match.
Ben Stiller and wife Christine Taylor predict Aryna Sablenka's win
Who knew Zoolander was such a tennis connoisseur! Turns out Ben Stiller and his actress wife Christine Taylor truly know the tournament's players inside and out.
During our interview with them on Day 2, Stiller said he'd pick Rafael Nadal has a tennis coach since "he's a lefty and I'm a lefty," and then named Diego Schwartzman as his secondary coach. Taylor insightfully named Aryna Sabalenka, adding "I love her!" She later keenly also named her as her pick to take the crown—and Stiller agreed, "I love Sabalenka." Indeed, they must have glanced into the future since Sabalenka took the crown in straight-sets over Pegula on Saturday night in front of a starry crowd.
That said, Stiller also said he was rooting for Coco Gauff, who lost in the Round of 16 to Emma Navarro, and they both loved that Naomi Osaka was back, though she ulimately was eliminated by Muchova in the second round.
As for the men's side, their picks didn't fare so well, with both saying, Novak Djokovic, who was ousted in Round 3, and Carlos Alcaraz, who was defeated in Round 2, were the "obvious" choices. But one of two singles' champion predictions isn't bad!
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce arrive at the men's final hand-in-hand
Welcome to New York! The world's most famous couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce sent shockwaves around the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center —and beyond—when they brought their "Love Story" to the 2024 US Open, arriving just minutes before Italian No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner and American No. 12 seed Taylor Fritz kicked off the men's singles final on Day 14.
Depsite the cooler temperatures, the singer and football player dressed arrived in coordinated summery outfits, with Swift in a gingham print red dress and Kelce in a head-to-toe Gucci shorts outfit.
Before the tournament, Swiatek had offered an invite in an USOpen.org video: "Taylor Swift and Travis, I want to invite Taylor Swift to come to the US Open to enjoy tennis and the show." Sadly, she was ousted by Pegula in the quarterfinals, so Swift didn't get to see her in action...at least this year.
One thing's for sure about Taylor and Travis: They're in their Open Era!
