Inside Game, Set, Matchmaker — the US Opens…
It’s the center of US Open Fan Week, and Peter Rundquist is sitting on a bench inside the Chase Center at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
No, Rundquist wasn’t ready to take the court for a qualifying spherical match — instead, he was ready to meet his date who can be half of a new actuality show being produced by the US Open and Fresh Tape Media.
Rundquist, 26, and his date Julia Drahzal, 26, have been two of the 16 singles trying for a doubles associate in life at the US Open as half of “Game, Set, Matchmaker.”
The endeavor was filmed during Fan Week and adopted around eight randomly paired {couples} as they noticed if they’re a match while experiencing a first date together at the famed tennis match in Queens.
“I’m a single guy living in New York, and I think this tennis tournament is kind of a perfect culmination of the youth in New York City. Just the energy around here, you can feel it, and I’m a huge tennis fan as of recently,” Rundquist told The Post about why he wished to participate in the show — which is able to air on the match’s YouTube web page — shortly before going on his date.
Peter Rundquist and Julia Drahzal participate in a relationship show produced at the 2025 U.S. Open Tennis Championship Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
“I think if you have the opportunity to do something different, why would you not say yes?” Drahzal explained as her reasoning for collaborating. “I think definitely in the city as a woman, I’m sure there are a lot of women out there that can relate to the idea that, or to the feeling that dating is definitely very tiring and this is just a way to make it more exciting.”
While love is the title of the sport for “Game, Set, Matchmaker,” US Open officers have a a lot loftier purpose in thoughts when they determined to bounce into the fact relationship show business.
The USTA is hoping to faucet into the rising quantity of people who have taken to relationship reveals like “Love Island,” “Love is Blind” and “The Bachelor.”
The concept can be that the show, which options loads of the off-the-court actions at the US Open, would serve as an “entry point” for people who aren’t conventional tennis or even sports activities followers.
“Thinking about just new ways to reach new audiences, especially with content. These days, there’s so much when it comes to streaming and social media channels,” Jonathan Zipper, director of social media for the USTA, explained to The Post.
“I’d say it started with the audience segment, which is Gen Z and millennials, trying to reach 21 to 44-year-olds. In kind of thinking about that, we were wondering, what are some of the themes and types of content that are most engaging to those audience segments? And right now, dating shows and reality TV in general are very popular with that audience segment.”
“Game, Set, Matchmaker” will air on YouTube. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Zipper isn’t unsuitable about the recognition of relationship reveals, particularly this summer time.
“Love Island,” which airs on Peacock, was the most-streamed show in America the week of its Season 7 finale and Nielsen data reported that more than 50 p.c of the viewers have been adults under the age of 35.
With the success of relationship reveals and the natural phrase play with the game of tennis, which begins at love-love, “that’s what led us to this concept in the first place,” Zipper explained.
The 16 contestants for the show. US Open
The US Open had initially announced the show with a format that more intently resembled “The Bachelor,” which might have seen one girl matched with a number of contestants to see which one she chooses.
The format was modified to embody eight {couples}, which have been discovered through a casting company, and set them up to see if they end up being a match.
The idea shift is a component of a broader strategy to permit for US Open attendees to take part through social media to share their own love tales at the US Open through the hashtag “LoveAtTheUSOpen” and incorporate social media influencers to promote the theme through their own platforms.
Peter and Julia play some tennis as half of the show. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
The eight people who have been chosen had to have some ardour for the game of tennis and an curiosity in experiencing the US Open.
The dates themselves revolve around an exercise that was going down during Fan Week, from a silent disco, enjoying Red Ball, taking a tennis lesson or experiencing the food.
Reaction to the concept of a Grand Slam placing on a relationship show was combined among tennis followers, some of whom took to social media to chide the concept.
But USTA officers have been mindful of the stability they have been making an attempt to strike with the project, serving to to promote the game and the US Open particularly, which has turn into as a lot of a seen-and-be-seen extravanganza as it’s a major sporting event, while preserving the status.
Julia Drahzal was one of 16 contestants for the show. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
“We have a lot of traditional fans, and we want to maintain the integrity of the event, but we also want the ability to push the envelope and tap into it,” Nicole Kankam, the managing director of Pro Tennis Marketing and Entertainment for the USTA, said.
“We, for sure, make sure that we’re maintaining the integrity of the championship,” she continued. “We’re not making an attempt to disturb the integrity of that tennis court product, but as followers turn into accustomed to any leisure or sports activities event that you’re going to be engaged in different methods.
“I think a lot of people have come to expect that if you go to a football game or a baseball game, that you have the product on the field, but you’re also looking for ways to be engaged and entertained beyond that.”
Julia Drahzal was one of 16 contestants for the show. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Back inside the Chase Center, Rundquist and Drahzal are handled to a tennis lesson and a few Honey Deuces as they see if the 2 — one a Minnesota native who lately moved to New York City and the other a New Jerseyan who migrated across the Hudson river — have been a match.
As the tennis lesson heated up, so did the quips.
“Are you sweating because of the tennis or because of me?” Drahzal jokingly requested at one level during the date, as a digicam crew filmed the whole lot and a photographer and reporter from The Post noticed.
“I hope my date crushes me a little bit so I can laugh it off and laugh it off on camera,” Rundquist joked. “I think it’s perfect just to enjoy, get the heart rate up a little bit while talking to a beautiful woman, obviously, I think will be great.”
Drahzal had said she was optimistic heading into the date and was excited to expertise the US Open in a “unique way” this 12 months, but also appreciated the potential function she may play in serving to to get more followers out to the US Open and into tennis.
“I think knowing that maybe there’s someone out there like me who wasn’t really into tennis and now, maybe has a little bit of intrigue, is now gonna be interested in the US Open and like every other open. I think that feels really nice because it’s like, oh, maybe I could make a difference in someone’s interests,” she said.
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