President Trump is going to attend the men’s US Open final in New York on Sunday, according to multiple reports.
Trump has made sport a huge part of his second term as president and Thursday’s news marks the second big event in New York he is expected to attend in the coming days.
After Sunday’s final, he is also expected to be at Yankee Stadium on September 11 on the anniversary of the attack on the city. That night, the playoff-chasing New York Yankees host Detroit Tigers in the Bronx, one of the best teams in baseball this season.
Trump has also confirmed that he will be at the first day of the Ryder Cup on Friday, September 26 at Bethpage in New York, too.
As for the tennis, Sunday’s final will see Carlos Alcaraz or Novak Djokovic play World No 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner or Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime.
The showpiece match will bring the curtain down on a tournament that has thrown up plenty of drama across its two weeks in Queens.
Donald Trump is expected to attend the men’s US Open final on Sunday in New York
Defending champion Jannik Sinner is widely expected to be there again for Sunday’s final
American star Taylor Townsend clashed with Jelena Ostapenko after beating her in the second round.
Ostapenko told Townsend she had ‘no class’ and ‘no education’ in an argument at the net, sparking a huge debate over whether the Latvian’s comments were racially motivated.
A reporter asked Townsend, who is black, whether she thought there were racial undertones to those comments.
‘I didn’t take it in that way, but also, you know, that has been a stigma in our community of being ‘not educated’ and all of the things, when it’s the furthest thing from the truth,’ Townsend responded.
‘So whether it had racial undertones or not, that’s something she can speak on,’ Townsend said. ‘The only thing that I’m worried about right now is continuing to move forward through this tournament.’
Ostapenko adamantly denied that racism was behind her outburst but later admitted that she understood how her comments caused such outrage.
Another moment of huge controversy saw Piotr Szczerek, a millionaire businessman, steal US Open player Kamil Majchrzak’s hat, which was meant as a gift for a young fan.
Posted on his company’s Instagram account, Szczerek later said in a lengthy statement he made ‘a huge mistake’ and revealed he has since given the hat back to the child, known only as Brock.
Taylor Townsend’s clash with Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko sparked a racism debate
Kamil Majchrzak tried to give his cap to Brock, but Szczerek snatched it away quickly
Szczerek, who has turned off comments on the post ‘out of concern for my family’, wrote: ‘Due to the situation that occurred during Kamil Majchrzak’s match at the US Open, I would like to unequivocally apologize to the injured boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself.
‘I made a grave mistake. In the midst of emotion, amidst the crowd’s celebration after the victory, I was convinced that the tennis player was passing the cap to me – for my sons, who had previously asked for autographs. This mistaken belief caused me to instinctively reach out.
‘Today I know that I did something that looked like I deliberately took a souvenir from a child. It wasn’t my intention, but that doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans.’
Back in February, Trump became the first sitting President to attend a Super Bowl as he headed to New Orleans to watch the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Kansas City Chiefs.
He has also attended the NASCAR Daytona 500 and the soccer Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
