
The third invite is a "save the date" shotgun blast to numerous parties in the entertainment, sports and fashion industries containing the dates of the US Open. Another invites select individuals to the opening night ceremonies. One solicits celebrities for the annual Arthur Ashe Kids' Day event that takes place the Saturday prior to the US Open. The rush for special treatment at the Open has gotten so intense over the years that Fiur and Mannino now send out three different US Open invitations. "Some of the names that come up at our meeting have us scrambling for our phones to look up who they are," Fiur said. to review where we stand with our obligations."Īs with all visas, some applicants are turned down.

It can get complicated, which is why we have a daily meeting at 3 p.m. "We need places to put people, and the suite owners often want to host famous people. Part of their job consists of making sure that sponsors who want to have celebrities in their suites are satisfied. Together, they reach out to celebrities while fielding and vetting requests for celebrity treatment. He works hand in hand with Jim Mannino Public Relations in New York. He heads an office with a staff of over 50 people deep in the bowels of Arthur Ashe Stadium. The man in charge of wrangling celebrities for the tournament is Michael Fiur, executive producer of entertainment for the US Open. If getting into the US Open required a passport, these folks would have "protected celebrity status" stamped on their visas. Some of the celebrities who show up are recruited by agents of the USTA, while others appealed directly to those agents or the USTA. But while Wimbledon has the formidable Royal Box, Gotham's beautiful people are cleverly distributed in a number of locations when they visit the US Open - the President's suite (extending up from the north baseline in Ashe), the Emirates, AmEx and a number of USTA suites. 7 train to the Mets-Willets Point station, and empty their pockets to walk through a metal detector.Ĭelebrities are royalty in New York. Not every celebrity has her degree of clout, but you can be sure that those whose faces you routinely see flashed up on the big screen at Arthur Ashe Stadium didn't buy a ticket, take the No. The USTA is happy to accommodate Swank in exactly that way this year. On Saturday, though, she wants to go more casual, so she'd rather be placed somewhere else. She can even specify that she's willing to dress well and sit in the President's suite on Sunday for the men's final. Swank - or her assistant - can pick up the phone and tell the USTA that she wants to spend finals weekend at the US Open. And not just because that would make you a two-time Oscar winner for best actress.

Why US Open, celebrities have mutual love affair
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