You know that old uncle you haven’t heard from in years who always seems to resurface the moment you find yourself in the spotlight? A promotion at work, a lottery win. A career in tennis. Well, when it comes to the US Open, these people – distant acquaintances or thirty-eighth cousins – start coming out of the woodwork, piling on top of the perfectly legitimate requests from family and close friends, which need to be handled sparingly too. Especially these days, when seeing a match at the American Grand Slam in person has become an outrageous expense. And, right on cue, in the days before the main event, the requests start arriving from players: “Hey, can you put a couple of tickets aside for me?” Today, Coco Gauff’s mother answered for everyone: “Sorry. Hurry up and buy them if you want to come.”
Candi Gauff, well known around the circuit for the support she has always given her daughter as she travels the world, took to social media with a message that drew approval from players and people around the sport. “Dear family and friends,” Candi Gauff wrote, alongside a photo of Coco with the trophy she had just won at the Cincinnati Open. “I apologise in advance for this blunt, but necessary information. I know you are all very excited to see Coco play at the US Open. Me too!!! Requests for Coco’s guest tickets have already been taken care of. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to get these tickets for you, so please make sure you buy them. One small note: please never ask us for more than two. Coco is grown now and has her own friends to whom she needs to give those few tickets that are available. Thank you for your support.”
And then came the ovation from those who know the circuit. “Say it louder, so maybe they can hear you in the back rows too,” commented Jessica Pegula, the world No. 3. “This is the best statement ever written. Well done, Mrs Gauff,” Ben Shelton and Francis Tiafoe joined in from the ATP Tour. Coco, the 22-year-old home favourite, said she had not known her mother was going to post it, but she liked it all the same. “To be honest, some people really do come out of nowhere,” she said at her press conference. “Most of the time you haven’t spoken to these people in years: they don’t text you congratulations, happy birthday, nothing at all. Then they suddenly get in touch saying, ‘Oh, I’m in New York, can I get eight tickets to your match?’ I have a very big family on both sides, but like every family, there are some distant relatives you never speak to. And usually they’re the ones asking for the most tickets.”
So tennis stars have a freeloading problem. Some simply ghost the messages to dodge every tiresome request, Shelton among them. Many rely on a team to handle the requests for free tickets. Others simply lose count: American Taylor Fritz says he gets 15 to 20 people per tournament asking him for tickets, usually between two and six at a time, without having any idea how many messages the rest of his staff receives. Even using the most conservative estimate, that would mean around 50 tickets per player. Nearly 7,000 tickets in total. For context, Arthur Ashe Stadium, where the US Open final is played, holds just under 24,000 spectators. Candi Gauff had simply said out loud what everyone was thinking, and what nobody had bothered to say until now.