Trump back in sports spotlight at US Open final

NEW YORK :Donald Trump will become the first sitting U.S. president to attend the U.S. Open in a quarter-century on Sunday, as he joins the legions of fans in New York to catch a highly anticipated showdown between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz.

Republican Trump has attended numerous sports events to meet with his supporters, but he may not receive the warmest welcome at the U.S. Open in deeply Democratic New York City.

He was once a fixture of the tournament before taking office and in 2015 was booed by some tennis fans not long after launching his presidential campaign.

Ticketholders can expect extraordinary security measures at the sprawling Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Trump's home borough Queens, where the final tennis major of 2025 is on track for a fourth straight year of record-setting attendances.

While the pricey playground for tennis fanatics and designer-clad social media influencers regularly brings in an array of A-listers, the tournament has not seen a sitting U.S. president since Bill Clinton attended in 2000.

Barack and Michelle Obama attended in 2023, six years after the Democratic president left office.

Second seed Alcaraz said he would try not to think about Trump in the crowd as he bids for his sixth Grand Slam title.

"I don't want myself to be nervous because of it," the Spaniard told reporters on Friday after defeating 24-times major winner Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.

"But I think, you know, attending the tennis match, it's great for tennis to have the president at the final."

MEGAWATT SPOTLIGHT

Trump is far from the first U.S. president to step into the megawatt spotlight of professional sports.

President Barack Obama appeared on ESPN to fill out his "March Madness" bracket while in