Left to right: Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Diego Schwartzman and Eugenia De Martino at the U.S. Open in New York. Courtesy of Eugenia De Martino

(JTA) — On a night that brought weather of biblical proportions to the U.S. Open in New York City, Jewish tennis star Diego Schwartzman prevailed over his opponent Kevin Anderson. But that wasn’t the only highlight of his night.

Schwartzman’s Round 2 match began on Louis Armstrong Stadium at 7 p.m. — against Anderson, who is about a foot taller than Schwartzman, at 6-foot-8 — but it did not finish until 1:02 am, at the larger Arthur Ashe Stadium. The roof on Armstrong was no match for the storm, an offshoot of Hurricane Ida, that passed through the city on Wednesday night and brought dangerous floods. The match was suspended three times on Armstrong before the decision was made to move it to Ashe.

Tennis reporter José Morgado tweeted that during the rain break, Schwartzman told Ben Stiller he wanted to meet with him. The Jewish actor was in the stands at Armstrong to watch Schwartzman play, and had tweeted a video of the torrential rain pour on the grounds:

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Stiller, and his wife, actress Christine Taylor, stayed until the very end of the late-night match, moving from Armstrong to Ashe to cheer Schwartzman on.

Schwartzman’s girlfriend, Argentine model Eugenia De Martino, posted to her Instagram story after the match a photo of all of them meeting: “Ben and Christine came especially to watch Diego.”

Left to right: Ben Stiller, Christine Taylor, Diego Schwartzman and Eugenia De Martino at the U.S. Open in New York. Courtesy of Eugenia De Martino

Schwartzman, who is seeded 11 in the tournament, won in straight sets in a little over three hours of playing time. Last year, Schwartzman lost in a surprising upset in the first round, but in 2019 he made it to the quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.

“First of all thank you everyone for staying tonight, it’s been crazy weather. It was very difficult before the match,” Schwartzman said after his victory. “I am very happy and I was able to play my best tennis in the last two sets.”

—
The post At the US Open, Diego Schwartzman wins during a flood storm — then meets Ben Stiller appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount