These influencers should stick to their Honey Deuces.
When a group of loud-mouthed content creators began shooting a US Open video during the crucial first-round match between Naomi Osaka and Anastasia Zakharova, one astounded fan filmed the racket himself.
Danny Singer, a 27-year-old New Yorker who has attended the US Open with his mother for the past two decades, hit “record” on a group of rowdy influencers, and told The Post he wasn’t surprised when court umpire Paula Vieira Souza called out the clickbait clique, directing the “suite behind [her]” to “please take [their] seats.”
“When I heard them filming the video, I was shocked that it was in the middle of a point and immediately thought it could distract or disrupt the players,” Singer, who works in sports media, exclusively told The Post. Besides being a fan, he also served as a ball boy for the Grand Slam tennis tournament from 2013 to 2016.
Singer was shocked that a specific suite of online attention-seekers required their own reprimand: “I hadn’t seen that done in my 20+ years of attending the US Open and my three as a ball boy.”
In his now-viral vid — which has over 31.5 million views on X — a small crowd of content creators can be heard chanting, “Hey guys, we’re back. Did you miss us? ‘Cause we missed you,” ending with a collective “Woo!” as they wave at an unseen camera. (The phrase is a TikTok trend parroting a “Kardashians” television show promo.)
Singer clarified that the group did two or three takes — “not great tennis etiquette”— before being publicly chastised by Souza. But the disruptive crew was undeterred and kept filming takes, although they began waiting until game sets were finished.
“[That was] at least a little better,” said Singer.
Singer’s clip wasn’t the only viral bad behavior from the tennis tournament. Another TikTok shows two women blinding the audience with their ring lights while trying to film and edit their own videos.
“Tennis etiquette is that you don’t even GET UP IN THE MIDDLE OF A POINT but now [at] US Open apparently it’s ring lights and photo shoots everywhere in the MIDDLE OF A POINT,” said the video’s caption.
Online speculation points some of blame on the premium French vodka brand Grey Goose, which hosts influencers at the tournament. One beverage industry source told The Post that the misbehaving “fans” in Singer’s video have been invited to the liquor brand’s other events.
“I get @greygooseinviting folks out to their suite but shooting content mid-point is not it,” the lifelong tennis fan commented on @atpwtamemes re-posting of the video.
The downfall of @usopen has to be studied,” commented another. “Relentless brand activation and influencing.”
The Post reached out to Grey Goose but received no response.
The bad behavior has sparked a swift response by the US Open, who shared a public notice on Thursday outside Louis Armstrong Stadium (the show court in USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center near Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the influencers were filmed), asking attendees to “Please refrain from the use of flash photography or other lighting during match play. Thank you, and enjoy the tennis!”
This year, the US Open gave media credentials to approximately 100 influencers and content creators for the championship — nearly double last year’s total of 54 — spurring countless posts featuring stadium fashion and the beloved $23 signature cocktail Honey Deuce.
At a press conference on Thursday, Osaka spoke briefly on the subject of the USTA inviting more influencers this year, saying that “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,” said Osaka. “Especially the etiquette. It could be a good thing for people to make the sport of tennis popular to their specific audience. But I think it has to be managed a lot better, especially in the situation like in my first round match. Overall there’s huge positives.”
“You want people to continue to grow the sport,” the tennis star continued. “I just think it has to be in a way that everyone knows the rules and the etiquette.”
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