Tennis Meets the TikTok Era at the US Open
Arthur Ashe Stadium fell quiet for a moment, but not because of a rally.
Naomi Osaka stood at the baseline during her first‑round match against Anastasia Zakharova earlier this week when the chair umpire’s voice cut through the noise.
“Guys, please, in the suite behind me ... please take your seat.”
It was a small interruption in a long night of tennis. It also captured a growing tension at the US Open: the clash between a sport built on concentration and a new wave of spectators chasing content.
Tennis meets the TikTok era
The US Open, always the loudest and most boisterous of the four Grand Slams, has drawn a fresh crowd this year. Many are influencers, phones held high, eager to broadcast their version of Flushing Meadows to millions.
Some of that exposure has gone viral for all the wrong reasons.
During Osaka’s opening‑round win, one video showed a group of fans filming what appeared to be a TikTok during the second set. Another clip from the same match caught a spectator using a selfie light mid‑play, the bright ring cutting through the dark stands as Osaka tried to serve.
Osaka understands the pull of that new audience. She also understands how fragile focus can be.
Speaking after her 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory over Katerina Siniakova on Thursday, Sept. 3, she struck a careful balance.
The attention, she said, “could be a good thing ... to make the sport of tennis popular,” but only if someone draws a line.
The distractions, she added, “have to be managed a lot better.”
Then she put it in simpler terms.
“If you come to a sporting event, you have to respect the sport. I feel like it’s common courtesy to read up on the sport,” Osaka said. “You want people to continue to grow the sport. I just think it has to be in a way that everyone knows the rules and the etiquette.”
Respect the game. Learn the basics. Then hit record.
Pegula: appreciation turning into frustration
Jessica Pegula, one of the standard-bearers of American tennis, sees both sides as well.
On one hand, she gets the appeal. The US Open has become a lifestyle event as much as a tennis tournament. Social feeds fill with shots of $100 caviar nuggets, the Honey Deuce cocktail, and the New York skyline framing the courts. That kind of content pulls people to Queens who might never have watched a tiebreak before.
“I can appreciate the influencers coming and showcasing the US Open experience,” Pegula said.
But the line between showcasing and overshadowing is wearing thin.
“It’s getting to a point where it’s a bit disrespectful,” she admitted.
The images that stick with her aren’t of cocktails and skyline views. They’re of people in premium seats, backs half‑turned to the court, selfie lights blazing while players grind through rallies.
“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. It’s their career and their job ... So I think it’s gotten a little maybe too much it feels like this year.”
She paused on that word: job. For players, this is not a backdrop. It’s their workplace.
“I don’t know,” she added. “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.”
Medvedev backs growth — with limits
Not everyone sees a looming problem, at least not yet.
Daniil Medvedev, a former US Open champion, framed the surge in new fans as a net positive.
“There’s a lot of more upside than downside” to the influx, he said. “The more the sport grows, the better it is.”
He put his faith in the organizers.
“I trust USTA with what they’re doing,” Medvedev said.
For him, the solution is simple and immediate. If a light flashes in your eyeline or a phone becomes a distraction, you deal with it in real time.
“For sure, if it disturbs during the play, like if you see a light or something, well, you always say it to the referee ... maybe one time they do it, then someone tells them not to do it.”
One warning. One correction. On with the match.
A new kind of etiquette test
Tennis has always asked its fans for something different. Silence on serve. No movement during points. A kind of shared responsibility to protect the contest.
The US Open, with its night sessions and New York edge, has pushed that tradition more than any other major. Music blares, celebrities drift in late, the crowd roars between points. Players accept that as part of the deal.
What they are facing now feels different. It’s not just noise. It’s the sense that, for some in the stands, the match is background content rather than the main event.
Osaka, Pegula and Medvedev all agree on one thing: tennis needs new fans. The question is how to welcome them without losing the core of the sport.
At Arthur Ashe this week, the chair umpire’s request was simple: sit down, pay attention, let the players work. Whether that message can cut through the glow of a thousand screens may define what the modern Grand Slam looks like from here.
