Sports have given New York every reason to celebrate this summer. The Knicks run had strangers dancing in the streets, and the World Cup spurred parties on mega-yachts in the Hudson River, rooftop soccer fields, and street blocks across the city.
Now the US Open, in full swing in Queens, is giving New Yorkers another reason for elation. As more than a million people flock to Flushing Meadows to watch the world’s best battle it out, tennis players and their famous friends have been stepping out after hours in some of the city’s most glamorous and classic spots.
The festivities started a week before the tournament. Gorjana, the California jewelry brand known for its layering pieces, took over Carbone, the upscale red-sauce Italian institution in Greenwich Village. Iva Jovic, the American player currently ranked 14th in the world, helped herself to the restaurant’s famous spicy rigatoni and Mario’s meatballs, laid out on a candlelit buffet. Jessica Pegula, the world No. 3, played beer pong, but with champagne coupes. “Champagne pong was definitely a first for me,” she said. “I’m usually so focused on tennis, so getting to be a little competitive off the court was pretty entertaining.” Waiters circled with jewelry gifts presented on wooden tennis rackets until 11 p.m.
At the same time, Aryna Sabalenka posed with fans at the St. Regis, while Casper Ruud worked the room at the Ritz-Carlton, chatting with VIP guests as servers passed around the hotel’s take on the tournament’s Grey Goose Honey Deuce. Taylor Fritz and Maestro Dobel, the Open’s tequila sponsor, threw an intimate cocktail party for 60 in Brooklyn, thanking guests not only for coming but for trying the spicy margarita he invented himself.
On Thursday, Lacoste took over the Plaza, setting up a green tennis court in the hotel’s historic wood-paneled ballroom. As servers passed champagne and macarons stamped with the brand’s famous crocodile, Novak Djokovic chatted in a corner with Daniil Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov, while Morgan Riddle and Jordan Rand posed for photos with vintage rackets. Eva Lys, the German player and social media influencer, hit a few balls on the carpeted court. “I love that they just built a court here,” she said, laughing. “The texture reminds me of sand.” She joked that after playing on it, Arthur Ashe’s hard courts would feel easy by comparison.
A few blocks away, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton played an exhibition match in the newly renovated, chandeliered ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria, in front of guests who’d paid $1,000 a ticket, which included a pre-match feast with a raw bar and filet mignon station. Anna Wintour and Paige Paul sat in the front row, laughing as Andy Roddick emceed the event.
On Friday, Racquet Magazine took over Pier 17, the sprawling outdoor patio at the South Street Seaport, with the Brooklyn Bridge as a backdrop. Guests including Brazilian supermodel Chico Lachowski, actor Yara Shahidi, model Adrianne Ho, and former player Ayan Broomfield sipped Ace Palomas, the official US Open tequila cocktail, and danced under the stars. Retired player Rennae Stubbs ducked out around 9 p.m. Her excuse? “I’m hitting with Serena tomorrow.”
Once the tournament got underway, the parties didn’t stop. James Murphy threw a late-night bash at the Four Horsemen and Nightmoves, the restaurant and bar he co-owns in Williamsburg, to recruit members of the USTA and tennis advocates to help him re-do the courts at the neighboring McCarren Park. “The home of the US Open shouldn’t be the hardest city in America in which to play tennis,” he said. Guests spent much of the night on the light-up dance floor the LCD Soundsystem frontman had shipped in from a nightclub in Cannes.
Grey Goose, meanwhile, set up a luxe bar in Grand Central, handing out free mini Honey Deuces until 1 a.m. to commuters coming home from the tournament. Knicks player Josh Hart advertised the event, which may be one reason the line was out the door. As one person put it: “I just can’t get enough of these things. It’s Honey Deuce season.”
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