The US Open is going to be a bigger party than ever complete with marijuana delivery on demand
Last Tuesday night during US Open fan week, Roger Federer returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium to play Andy Roddick in a highly anticipated exhibition match.But many of those in attendance cared little for watching the Swiss great and his famously powerful, graceful groundstrokes.An entire suite on premiere level one, one of the new premium levels at the stadium, was filled with influencers who talked loudly during the match and stood up at random to snap selfies.“They don’t even care about tennis,” sniffed one fan who noted how loud the influencer crowd was when Federer was trying to serve.
“They are all just getting drunk and being rowdy.”In recent years, the US Open has turned into New York’s longest, most debaucherous end-of-summer party.This year will be the most raucous yet for the tournament, which kicked off Sunday — if the Federer-Roddick match is any indication.
“I don’t want to be a pearl clutcher because it definitely feels more relevant and vibrant than it did ten or 15 years ago,” said Caitlin Thompson, founder of tennis’ preeminent literary magazine, Racquet.“But, I also don’t think anyone’s really there to watch tennis [anymore].”Anastasia Folorunso, host of the Ground Pass podcast, is more positive.
“Deep focus is for Wimbledon, this is New York baby,” she quipped.In 2025, the party was one for the books.
The smell of cannabis was so strong, with fans vaping and sparking up just beyond the tournament’s gates, that Norwegian Casper Rudd dubbed the stench “the worst thing about New York.”Fans guzzled down a whopping 738,459 Honey Deuce cocktails and grew so rowdy Serbian star Novak Djokovic had to implore the chair umpire to restore order at one point.This year, Danny Zausner, COO of USTA National Tennis Center, told The Post they expect to sell a record 800,000 Honey Deuces — up from a mere 5,000 in 2007 when the vodka-melon concoction first went pro.There will also be more influencers than ever before.In 20...