It’s the middle 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 waiting to take the court for a qualifying round match — instead, he was waiting to meet his date who would be part of a new reality show being produced by the US Open and Fresh Tape Media.
Rundquist, 26, and his date Julia Drahzal, 26, were two of the 16 singles looking for a doubles partner in life at the US Open as part of “Game, Set, Matchmaker.”
The endeavor was filmed during Fan Week and followed around eight randomly paired couples as they saw if they’re a match while experiencing a first date together at the famed tennis tournament 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 wanted to take part in the show — which will air on the tournament’s YouTube page — shortly before going on his date.
“I think if you have the opportunity to do something different, why would you not say yes?” Drahzal explained as her reasoning for taking part. “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 name of the game for “Game, Set, Matchmaker,” US Open officials have a much loftier goal in mind when they decided to jump into the reality dating show business.
The USTA is hoping to tap into the increasing number of people who have taken to dating shows like “Love Island,” “Love is Blind” and “The Bachelor.”
The idea would be that the show, which features plenty of the off-the-court activities at the US Open, would serve as an “entry point” for people who aren’t traditional tennis or even sports fans.
“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.”
Zipper isn’t wrong about the popularity of dating shows, especially this summer.
“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 percent of the viewers were adults under the age of 35.
With the success of dating shows and the natural word play with the sport of tennis, which starts at love-love, “that’s what led us to this concept in the first place,” Zipper explained.
The US Open had originally announced the show with a format that more closely resembled “The Bachelor,” which would have seen one woman matched with several contestants to see which one she chooses.
The format was changed to include eight couples, which were found through a casting agency, and set them up to see if they end up being a match.
The concept shift is part of a broader strategy to allow for US Open attendees to participate through social media to share their own love stories at the US Open through the hashtag “LoveAtTheUSOpen” and incorporate social media influencers to promote the theme through their own platforms.
The eight people who were chosen had to have some passion for the sport of tennis and an interest in experiencing the US Open.
The dates themselves revolve around an activity that was taking place during Fan Week, from a silent disco, playing Red Ball, taking a tennis lesson or experiencing the food.
Reaction to the idea of a Grand Slam putting on a dating show was mixed among tennis fans, some of whom took to social media to chide the idea.
But USTA officials were mindful of the balance they were trying to strike with the project, helping to promote the sport and the US Open specifically, which has become as much of a seen-and-be-seen extravanganza as it is a major sporting event, while preserving the prestige.
“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 trying to disturb the integrity of that tennis court product, but as fans become accustomed to any entertainment or sports event that you’re going to be engaged in different ways.
“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.”
Back inside the Chase Center, Rundquist and Drahzal are treated to a tennis lesson and a few Honey Deuces as they see if the two — one a Minnesota native who recently moved to New York City and the other a New Jerseyan who migrated across the Hudson river — were 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 asked at one point during the date, as a camera crew filmed everything and a photographer and reporter from The Post observed.
“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 experience the US Open in a “unique way” this year, but also appreciated the potential role she could play in helping to get more fans 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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