The lasting image of this year’s US Open won’t be one of any international superstar tennis player triumphantly hoisting a handcrafted Tiffany trophy in the air.
Rather it will be of an unidentified, fed-up fan covering his face with his hand out of sheer exasperation, as a group of influencers in a luxury suite above him loudly acted out a Kim Kardashian quote — “Hey, guys. We’re back. Did you miss us? Because we missed you” — complete with a loud “woooo!”
They were, of course, performing to a camera with a ring light. Never mind that Naomi Osaka and Anastasia Zakharova were in the middle of playing.
The ruckus this group created inside of Arthur Ashe Stadium caused the umpire to stop play and reprimand them for the disruption.
As the moment went viral on X, many of us found rare consensus.
We’re all sick of influencers invading and spoiling everything with their narcissistic preening and faux “discoveries” of already well-known spots. In recent years, these ego-centric fools have also started flooding sporting events and taking the focus away from the main draw.
The US Open has always had its own vibrant Big Apple flavor, as opposed to the stuffy atmosphere of, say, Wimbledon. But now, groups of people unwilling to follow basic tennis etiquette has become the story.
“Today the umpire told everyone to be quiet more than I’ve ever heard an umpire tell a crowd to be quiet,” Osaka said after her Monday match. At the same one, another influencer in polka dots was seen posingfor photos being taken with a ring light during play.
Jessica Pegula, who is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, said influencer behavior has “become a little too much this year.” That’s an understatement.
“People are down there trying to perform. It’s their career and their job. It seems a bit disrespectful,” she added of players like her.
Part of the blame can be laid at the feet of the USTA, which has nearly doubled the number of credentials doled out to content creators. (According to Front Office Sports, there were 54 in 2025.)
To be fair, some of them put out decent, informed coverage. But you also have high-end brands packing their suites with self-centered influencers who treat the tournament like it’s a movie set for their very own biopic.
All that main-character energy surging through our culture emboldens the entitled to act less like invited guests blending in and more like rude piggies feeding at the trough.
Coco Gauff, who won a US Open singles title in 2023, said the tournament should be “like with anything, any venue you go to, like if you’re being invited to a red carpet, you wouldn’t show up in jeans. I think it’s just, follow the etiquette of the sport.”
Gauff, trying to be diplomatic said she was happy to have a “new demographic” that “helps grow the sport.”
But many of these obnoxious, camera-wielding influencers aren’t there to promote tennis, nor are they there to appreciate it.
They are there to promote themselves. To them, it’s more fodder to create the illusion that they live the life we all envy.
The actual sport is mere background noise.
But who are they even marketing the sport to?
The US Open has always been the hottest ticket of the season. Yet access for diehard tennis fans is already limited by an $800 million renovation at Arthur Ashe that will eliminate “cheap” seats to create more luxury suites.
The everyday Joe who enjoys the sport can go scratch.
Want to promote the game? Make the tickets more accessible so kids and families can experience the thrill firsthand. Not through an influencer saying, “Come with me” and proceeding to suck down 10 Honey Deuce cocktailswhile flaunting the free clothing that arrived in their latest haul.
Thankfully, there seems to be some intervention. Warnings against flash photography during play have been issued. And two foodie influencers, who received credentials through a restaurant, had their passes yanked after posting them online.
The VIP List’s Meg Radice and Audrey Jongens — who feast on expensive food and deliver verdicts on restaurants all with their breasts hanging out — whined about getting their access revoked.
(The USTA said they were improperly credentialed).
“It was taken away like that. Just because we wanted to show how hot we looked in our credentials,” Radice said.
But when it comes to the seizure, I’ll quote early 21st century philosopher Paris Hilton: “That’s hot.”
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