Love was in the air at the US Open Friday — and this time it didn’t end in scandal.
During a third-round showdown between Aryna Sabalenka and Leylah Fernandez at Louis Armstrong Stadium, a fan stunned the crowd by dropping down on one knee and pulling out a ring in full view of more than 14,000 spectators.
His girlfriend froze in shock, pressing both hands against her face in disbelief as her expression flashed between astonishment and tears.
All around them, spectators whipped out their cell phones to capture the moment.
The man, milking the scene, egged on the crowd with a hand gesture, signaling for more noise as the stadium roared louder.
“Now this is pressure. Never mind the tennis,” the ESPN broadcaster quipped on air as fans’ attention shifted away from the court.
“Everybody getting involved — what a moment!”
For nearly 20 suspenseful seconds the woman covered her face as the cheers built to a deafening crescendo. Finally, she said yes, sending the crowd into euphoria.
Her fiancé slipped the engagement ring onto her finger before the two sealed it with a kiss as thousands cheered.
“I think by the looks of things, it’s a yes,” the broadcaster exclaimed, as the moment lit up the big screen inside Flushing Meadows.
“What a cool moment.”
The proposal quickly went viral online, with fans gushing about the spontaneous burst of joy at the Grand Slam. It was the kind of stadium stunt organizers dream of — wholesome, heartfelt, and celebrated by everyone in the building.
And it stood in sharp contrast to the fiasco that erupted just weeks ago at a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts.
At Gillette Stadium in July, a “kiss cam” meant to entertain the crowd instead sparked an international scandal after it landed on Andy Byron, then-CEO of Astronomer Inc., and his colleague Kristin Cabot.
The two appeared cozy before ducking out of the frame as Chris Martin cracked from the stage, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
Within days, the clip — dubbed “Coldplaygate” — went viral, Byron resigned, and the incident fueled debates about workplace ethics and privacy in the social-media age.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
