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With United States president Donald Trump expected to be in attendance at the US Open men’s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the Spaniard said that it was great for the sport, adding that he will try not to be nervous about Trump’s presence.
“I think that it is a privilege for the tournaments having the president from every country just to support the tournament, to support tennis, and to support the match. For me, playing in front of him … I will try not to think about it. I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it, but I think attending the tennis match, it’s great for tennis to have the president at the final,” Alcaraz said at the post-match press conference after defeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
Trump was a regular attendee of the US Open before his political career was launched into the stratosphere. If he does make an appearance on Sunday, it’ll be another instance when he makes his presence felt in high profile sporting events having already attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 in Florida, UFC cards in Miami and Newark, the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia and July’s FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey.
It was in the last event that Trump made headlines when he gatecrashed Chelsea’s trophy celebrations after they defeated Paris Saint Germain 4-0.
Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella later revealed that they could not lift the Club World Cup trophy until Trump had left the arena. He told a Spanish outlet: “We had been told that, as a rule, Donald Trump would come to present us with the trophy and that we couldn’t lift it until he left.”
But to their shock, the American premier lingered long, putting on hold their celebrations. “We were all there waiting for him to leave, but the guy didn’t want to leave, and on top of that, we looked at him and he said, “Get him up, I’ll stay here, and so on.” And I wondered who would say anything to him, you know… I was scared s***less!” he detailed.
One of his teammates, Cole Palmer, the hero of the final, apparently asked his teammates. “What’s he (Trump) doing?” “’I knew he was going to be here but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy so I was a bit confused, yeah,” Palmer later said. Nonetheless, Chelsea’s players lifted the trophy alongside a beaming Trump.
With the USA hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup next summer, expect to see more of Trump before and during the tournament.
