The US Open is all about New York, and New York is all about the tennis, and, um, celebrities and rowdy crowds and frenetic, impassioned fans who like to yell between points (and sometimes during, depending on their blood/alcohol level).
But we digress.
Anyhow, one of the many celebrities on hand for opening-night festivities was Alec Baldwin. Baldwin, sitting in choice seats behind the baseline that cost god-knows-how-many dollars, actually got involved in the action when he caught a stray tennis ball off the racquet of Maria Kirilenko.
Watch as the noble actor saves his wife from a possible catastrophically embarrassing and hair-mussing moment, then casually tosses the ball away with a wry smile (Note: fans are allowed to keep balls on Arthur Ashe if they wish, but Baldwin apparently wasn’t informed or didn’t care to spend the rest of the evening squeezing a tennis ball).
Afterwards, when Pam Shriver waltzed over to interview the star during ESPN’s broadcast of the Sharapova-Kirilenko match, Baldwin said "I don't play tennis well, but I can catch a slow-moving tennis ball.”
Later, when Shriver asked Baldwin if he’d be staying to watch Novak Djokovic in the second match of the night session, the actor showed his true colors by saying he’d be watching some, but that he had a baby at home that wakes him up with a foot in the face at 5:30 every morning.
Maria Sharapova, nonplussed as usual when she heard about Baldwin’s catch, took the time to say congrats in her post-match presser nonetheless.
Photo Source: ESPN