Day: November 10, 2025

Whether it’s helping to bring down a manager, voicing their disapproval of a team owner or boycotting a game to protest ticket prices, fans have a long history of using their passion for a story as a tool for civic action. These fan protest stories remind us that pop culture is no longer a passive, top-down hierarchy where audiences sit passively to absorb whatever the studios and writers decide to throw at them. Fandom is a powerful force for social change, and its civic imagination knows no bounds.

During the Civil Rights Movement, Black fans used their fandom as more than just a hobby or an interest in a sport—they turned it into a nonviolent weapon of resistance. Black sports fans boycotted pro teams in cities across the South and compelled their leaders to stop treating them as second-class citizens. This boycott helped to transform professional sports as we know it, making it harder for southern cities to lure professional sports franchises.

Most football fans have probably been convinced at one point or another that every referee in the world has it in for them and is deliberately deciding to award goals against their team. That feeling helped inspire the fans of Serie A club Fiorentina to escort the team coach on scooters to their home game earlier this season and then stay in the stands for the first 10 minutes of the match to protest what they saw as poor officiating.

For much of the year, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows is a quiet place. But late in the summer, it transforms into a hub for hundreds of thousands of tennis fans eager to catch some of the sport’s biggest names.

The 2025 US Open starts Sunday and runs through Sept. 7. Qualifying matches are already underway, and the main draw begins Aug. 24. The tournament follows a format similar to the other Grand Slams, with women’s and men’s finals held on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Novak Djokovic will headline the night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The three-time winner will face American teenager Learner Tien, who’s climbed the rankings with parabolic serves and forehands and delicate mastery of ball control. The 38-year-old Djokovic is all in on Grand Slams, and he’ll be amped to see how the teenager can match him stroke for stroke.

Other highlights on Day 1 include defending champion Aryna Sabalenka taking on Swiss qualifier Rebeka Masarova. And a compelling duel between Jannik Sinner and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will play out on Stadium 17. The first-seeded Sinner, a trickster with a huge spot serve and match toughness, will try to unglue Nakashima from his rhythm with his trademark metronomic pace, while the 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime is an aggressive baseliner who’ll seek to derail his opponent’s rhythm and test his forehands.

The US Open offers many ways to experience the tournament, from grounds passes that give fans first-come-first-served access to courts around the grounds and in Louis Armstrong Stadium and the grandstand to live streams of every match on all courts during the entire two weeks of competition. For those who don’t have tickets to see a match inside one of the stadiums, there are also many outdoor screens spread throughout the complex, including one just south of Arthur Ashe.