Tennis fans fed up with ‘feral’ drunks at US Open: ‘70% are just loaded’
They’re making a real racket.
The US Open has always been a good time, but fervent tennis fans say people at this year’s tournament are way past the line. The Honey Deuce cocktails are flowing too freely, spectators are being escorted out of the stadium by security and the smell of weed greets attendees as soon as they step off the the 7 train.
“People were just kind of feral. It felt like ‘Happy Gilmore’ tennis,” said Matt, a 40-year-old Upper East Sider, of his recent experience at Arthur Ashe Stadium. (He declined to give his last name for fear of being barred from future tennis invites.)
Matt has gone to the US Open religiously every year for the last decade, but, he said, New Yorkers watching the game of kings are now behaving like unruly peasants.
During the Coco Gauff-Laura Siegemund match last Monday, the crowd in his 300-level seats — which cost upwards of $150 — was relentlessly rowdy. A huddle of Gen Z spectators two rows in front of him were playing Pokemon GO and taking selfies that obstructed his view.
Then, towards the end of Novak Djokovic vs. Alexandre Müller later that night, he overheard a drunken gabfest and spotted one woman going DIY with the libations.
“The match was getting very competitive and tense and the ref was calling for silence and these people just kept going,” he said.
“She literally pulled out a tiny bottle of Tito’s. She hid it in her bra. She had three of them. The minute her Honey Deuce was low she topped it off. I kept looking over and giving side eye. The people sitting in the row above mine were like, ‘would you just shut up!’ She wouldn’t listen, she kept talking.”
Players have noticed the vibe too, including Frances Tiafoe, the 25-year-old American who will feature in an all-American quarter final on Tuesday with Ben Shelton.
He told Time Magazine: “You can’t control 22,000 people. Seventy percent of the fans are just loaded and just absolutely drunk. You can tell them ‘hush’ as you want.”
Some fans are taking to social media to complain about the foul play.
“I saw a group of three ladies last night and one was so drunk she was being carried out of the US Open grounds,” one observer posted on X, previously Twitter. “That’s unacceptable behavior and actual tennis fans wouldn’t have gotten that wasted. Coulda been a one off, but I’ve never seen this in all my yrs [sic] of attending.”
In the worst instances, things are turning ugly.
During last week’s qualifiers, someone recorded and posted to TikTok a video of an expletive-laced brawl that broke out when a man started yelling xenophobic slurs at former Serbian tennis player Viktor Troicki in the crowd.
The rogue spectator called Troicki a “f—king clown,” and lunged at him, saying “This is New York, not f—king Serbia.”
The incident reportedly started when Troicki told the man to be quiet during the match. A security guard eventually had to intervene.
Insiders say spectators aren’t just imagining that the behavior in the stands is worse than ever.
“People seem very drunk this year and very loud. People are moving a lot during points not just changeovers. On the outer courts people were blocking people’s views and talking non-stop,” said a woman who works for the tournament and spoke to The Post anonymously. “I had to tell a few people to sit or move because they were blocking everyone’s view.”
And the odor of marijuana is so strong that even players are griping.
On Tuesday after winning his match, the 12th seed Alexander Zverev told the press, “Oh my God, it?s everywhere. The whole court smells like weed … Court 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg’s living room.”
Others say the vibe isn’t so much gangsta as it is grade school.
One regular US Open-goer — who requested anonymity because she was invited for corporate hospitality — sat front row during the Jannik Sinner-Lorenzo Sonego match on Thursday and was shocked by the childish behavior.
“In past years, you could hear a pin drop, and during today’s match people were just chatting. I swear I saw someone across the court in the front row on their cell phone the whole time. I’ve seen kids’ matches that were quieter in the stands,” she said.
But, Colette Piletto, 34, from Stamford, Connecticut, noted that the reason people come to the U.S. Open in the first place is for the food.
“The US Open has always been high energy — you need a couple of Honey Deuces to get through the day,” Piletto said. “I’m all about the bigger crowds and enjoying the sport.”
Still, Matt said there has to be a balance.
“You take the obligatory Honey Deuce in the air shot, but you’re there to watch tennis. Did we forget to behave like human beings?” he asked. “I don’t care if you’re cheering or whatever, but when the referee is like ‘be quiet.’ Be quiet.'”
