Fresh off appearing at the recent Garden Cup event in New York City, Carlos Alcaraz delighted fans in Charlotte this past Saturday with several of his fellow tennis superstars at the new Charlotte Invitational.
The new exhibition, that included Frances Tiafoe, Madison Keys, and Sloane Stephens, energized the 16,194 fans at the Spectrum Center that serves as the home for the NBA Charlotte Hornets.
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The tennis gathering also brought out former tennis champions and local heroes of the town's Charlotte Panthers NFL franchise. The Charlotte Sports Foundation, organizers of the exhibition, created the event to showcase that Charlotte can host major tennis events.
As recently as last year, Charlotte was in the running to take over from Cincinnati as host for its long-running combined ATP/WTA 1000 event before the decision was made to keep the event in Cincinnati.
The energy among the local fans reached a fever pitch when Alcaraz, the reigning Wimbledon and Roland Garros champion, stepped onto the blue court. Frances Tiafoe, the two-time US Open semifinalist, wearing an appropriate custom Charlotte Hornets jersey, also enjoyed a massive roar and looked right at home playing in an NBA arena.
This wasn't the first time both men have played in North Carolina. Alcaraz, when he was quickly rising up the ATP ranks, played at the ATP 250 Winston-Salem Open event back in 2021. Tiafoe has appeared in Winston-Salem several times.
Though the men have contested some tense and riveting matches in their career, including two five-set matches at Wimbledon and the US Open, both enjoyed an easygoing camaraderie under the Charlotte lights. That often included both men trying crazy trick shots while also showing off their massive groundstroke power from the baseline.
Both players also took time to let some local football heroes try their hand at a different sport.
Both current Charlotte Panthers quarterback Andy Dalton and former Panthers standout Steve Smith joined Alcaraz and Tiafoe on the court. The match ended up being decided in a fun yet competitive final set super tiebreak that changed momentum several times. Yet it was Tiafoe who sealed the match after Alcaraz committed a groundstroke error 5-7, 6-1, 11-9.
Alcaraz later commented on the opportunity to play against Tiafoe in such a great atmosphere.
Earlier in the night, Keys and Stephens kicked things off in a reprise of their 2017 US Open singles final, which saw Stephens take the title.
Before the match, another former US Open champion, Andy Roddick, who now lives in North Carolina with his family, took some time for photos.
The very good friends played a competitive match that went Keys' way 7-5, 6-3.
"I love this area of the country and it's always so fun to be able to play here and it's, you know, the best tennis fans in the entire world. So being able to play here is amazing," Keys said after the win in her post-match interview.
Keys, who recently married Bjorn Fratangelo, also confirmed a rumor that the newlyweds were possibly considering moving to Charlotte very soon.
"It's true,” Keys confirmed to the crowd, “So if you are selling your house, send me the link!”
Photos courtesy of Charlotte Sports Foundation.