US Open reckoning with growing cadre of influencers sharing the stage

The response from Jessica Pegula was telling.It also captured a crossroads tucked into the first week of the U.S.

Open, the Grand Slam that’s every bit bougie and swanky and ritzy and has seen its reach skyrocket as influencers collide with the tennis product at Flushing Meadows. The $23 Honey Deuces.The TikToks.

The blue carpet.The experience of it all.

The “big-show Grand Slam,” as Madison Keys called it. Pegula knows this stage better than most.As the No.

3 seed in the women’s draw, and as someone who lost in the 2024 final and 2025 semifinals here, she’s used to the spotlight.And after her match Wednesday, a straight-sets victory over unseeded Sofia Kenin, Pegula fielded a question about crowd culture — which hit a nadir this week when a chair umpire asked people in a suite to take their seats during Naomi Osaka’s match Monday and viral videos captured ring lights being used while filming influencers at matches. “I do think that it’s tough when you see videos like that when they’re taking pictures and using the selfie lights,” Pegula said.

“People are down there trying to perform, and it’s their career and their job.It seems like a bit disrespectful.

I think it’s gotten a little, maybe, too much, it feels like, this year.I don’t know. “I think, again, I can appreciate one side of it, but I think when you have the other side literally interrupting matches, it gets a little tough.” The video — and brief delay — in Osaka’s match captured some growing tension.

It quickly evolved into a discussion point during the first official week of the tournament. But there’s a give and a take with it all.No.

7 Daniil Medvedev, who also cruised into the third round via straight sets Wednesday, said that “the more we try to raise awareness about tennis, the better it is, the more popular the sport is.” But, he added, it can be challenging sometimes if a light disturbs the flow during the point. “Still, in general, the...