A Buzzy U.S. Open Got an After-Party to Match the Vibe

Celebrities like Issa Rae and Nicky Hilton Rothschild, and former tennis stars like Maria Sharapova and James Blake, helped close out the tournament in style.

Aryna Sabalenka, the Belarusian tennis player who won the 2024 U.S. Open women’s title earlier in the day, set the mood for Saturday evening.

After clinching her third Grand Slam tournament victory, falling to the ground in jubilation, greeting those in her players’ box with happy tears and accepting her trophy from Billie Jean King, she went on ESPN and told the world how she planned to celebrate. “We’re probably going to drink a lot,” she said with a huge, cheeky grin.

Two hours later, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, some high-profile tennis fans, including the actress Issa Rae, the retired tennis star Maria Sharapova and the model Devon Windsor, did the same — in solidarity, of course. As one partygoer was overheard saying, “If Sabalenka is drinking tonight, so am I.”

The occasion was the U.S. Open after-party, which was hosted by Dobel Tequila, a sponsor of the tournament. Dobel planned the party before the tournament began, but the stars seemed to align, with two of its brand ambassadors, Ms. Sabalenka and the men’s tennis star Taylor Fritz, both making it to the finals. (While both players are paid to endorse the brand, neither attended the party.)

“The odds of that working out are astronomical,” James Blake, a retired tennis star who is now a commentator on ESPN, said of a brand having two ambassadors make the finals.