NBA star Jimmy Butler WINS a point off reigning US Open champion and World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz after debuting as a ball boy
- Grammy winning Latin artist Sebastian Yatra also took part in the exhibition
- Jimmy Butler dressed up and ran onto the court with the rest of the ball boys
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Miami Heat All-NBA forward Jimmy Butler became the center of attention at Louis Armstrong Stadium when he hilariously ran onto the court and made his debut as a ball boy on Wednesday night.
Butler didn’t remain on the sidelines either as he jokingly beat world No. 1 and defending US Open champion Carlos Alcaraz.
He and Alcaraz played out a point with the Spaniard mockingly grunting as he played out a rally with the NBA star at about half the pace of his usual opponents.
And, while Alcaraz was clearly going easy on Butler, the Miami Heat player did walk away with the win thanks to a quick forehand hit, which the Grand Slam winner made an overexaggerated point of stretching for.
Butler was picking up a racket alongside Alcaraz, American tennis star Frances Tiafoe and singer Sebastián Yatra as part of a charity event at Flushing Meadows for the war in Ukraine.
Jimmy Butler dressed up as a ball boy before he ‘beat’ a joking Carlos Alcaraz to a single point
Butler also played a doubles match with Frances Tiafoe against Alcaraz and Sebastian Yatra
The US Open’s ‘ Stars of the Open’ event raised $320,000 for humanitarian relief in Ukraine.
Other just-for-fun exhibitions at Stars of the Open in Louis Armstrong Stadium included John McEnroe, Gabriela Sabatini, Jessica Pegula, Matteo Berrettini, Elena Svitolina, Gael Monfils, Chris Eubanks and Jennifer Brady.
Fans of the Heat will surely be glad Butler’s adventure on to the tennis court was only for laughs, rather than a serious contest, to avoid injury ahead of the upcoming NBA season.
Butler led Miami on a Cinderella-style run through the to the NBA Finals before ultimately losing to the Denver Nuggets.
The 33-year-old hooper is also a well-documented tennis fan and is friends with American stars Tiafoe and Coco Gauff.
The US Open gets underway on Monday with Alcaraz looking to defend his title off the back of his win at Wimbledon earlier this year.
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