Ben Stiller returns for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's major rematch at Roland Garros
After dubbing the pair's historic 2022 US Open finish "worth staying up for," the actor was back to catch their Roland Garros five-setter in person.
After dubbing Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner's historic 2022 US Open match "worth staying up for," Ben Stiller wanted to catch the next installment of their Grand Slam rivalry in person. The actor was among the thousands of fans who were enthralled by the more than four hours of tennis the two young stars played in Friday's first semifinal at Roland Garros, eventually won by Alcaraz in five sets.
The Meet the Parents franchise star is, in fact, an avid tennis player himself, having taken up the game later in life. As a fan, the Emmy Award winner struck up a personal frienship with Rafael Nadal over the years, and frequently attends the US Open. Two years ago in Queens, where Alcaraz and Sinner played a quarterfinal match that ended at 2:50 a.m. in the latest finish in tournament history, Stiller famously had a practice session Diego Schwartzman, whom he also considers a friend, inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.
"It ended up being really fun," Stiller confessed of the impromptu hit at the time. "I just wanted to get it over the net, and then by the end of it I was like, 'Oh, if just had another hour, I could really do something here!'"
Stiller once compared the one-on-one nature of tennis to acting, in that both pursuits require a person to feed off what someone else is giving them.
"A tennis player comes out with a game plan, but then they have to be reactive to their opponent," he once said. "In acting, it's not your opponent. It's really your partner,but that reactivity and being sensitive to what's coming across to you is, I think, something that can really correlate with tennis."
With Nadal injured for much of the last two years, his compatriot Alcaraz has been among the players to capture Stiller's attention.
Last year, Stiller was tuned to to the entirety of the young Spaniard's epic five-set victory over Novak Djokovic in a Wimbledon final he dubbed "incredible," and was also spotted inside Chatrier earlier this week to watch Alcaraz topple Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals.
But will the actor make it a hat trick and watch Alcaraz attempt to win his third Grand Slam title on Sunday?