President Donald Trump to attend US Open men's singles final as a client guest

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NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is planning to attend the men’s singles final at the U.S. Open on Sunday as a client guest and will watch the match from that client's suite, a spokesperson for the U.S. Tennis Association said Friday.

The USTA did not identify which client Trump will be a guest of. It’s set to be Trump’s first appearance at the Grand Slam tournament in New York since 2015.

Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who advanced to the final by beating Novak Djokovic, said when asked about Trump that it was a privilege and good for the sport for any tournament to have the president of a country in attendance.

“I will try not to be focused, and I will try not to think about it,” Alcaraz said. “I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it.”

Trump frequently attended in the years before that when he lived in New York and before he launched his political career. He now primarily lives at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, when he's not in Washington.

It’s the latest high-profile sporting event for Trump after the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the Daytona 500 in Florida, as well as UFC fights in Miami and Newark, New Jersey, the NCAA wrestling championships in Philadelphia and the FIFA Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The Trump Organization once controlled a suite at the U.S. Open which was adjacent to the television broadcasting booth in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but suspended it in 2017, during the first year of Trump’s first term.

Despite Trump’s past association with the tournament, having a sitting president at the U.S. Open is unusual. It hasn’t happened since Bill Clinton attended in 2000. Former President Barack Obama and wife, Michelle, attended the opening night in 2023.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis