Over the years, Jimmy Butler has developed strong bonds with athletes outside the basketball world. The Miami Heat star has interests in other sports too other than Basketball, especially football and tennis. This tennis season, Butler has been following all the Grand Slams extremely closely. Apart from traveling halfway across the world to cheer his friends, Butler has already spent numerous hours watching the intense US Open battles, one even for 281 minutes.
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Jimmy Butler grew close to Carlos Alcaraz quit recently. Ever since the Miami Heat star has been praising the Spanish youngster. A few months back, Jimmy promised to travel to London in order to catch Alcaraz live in action. Making the 4,426-mile journey, the 6ft 7” Forward witnessed the eventual Champion defeat Holger Rune during the Quarter Finals clash of the Wimbledon.
Jimmy Butler has been religiously watching the US Open matches
Jimmy Butler’s tennis friends – Coco Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev – have had a spectacular tournament so far. Making it to the Quarter Finals of the competition, Butler has been present to watch as many matches of theirs as he can.
After Alcaraz’s duel against Matteo Arnaldi concluded, Butler found his way back at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as one of the attendees present for the Zverev-Jannik Sinner battle. And what a match it was.
A contest that finished at 1:39 AM local time, went on for 4 hours and 41 minutes (281 minutes). An action-packed thriller reached its end with Zverev emerging victoriously. The German clinched a spot in the Quarter Finals with the 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win. Following the tiring contest that finished in the late hours of the night, Butler posted an Instagram Story congratulating Sasha (Zverev). In the same clip, the All-Star admitted being present for a majority of the tennis tournament’s contest. However, he promised to catch the Semi-Finals on Friday.
“So we did it. Four hours of tennis, four and a half hours to watch Sasha do his thing. Congratulations to you. Now it’s off to LA. I’m tired and my food’s cold. But I will be back US Open on Friday. I know all y’all gon miss me cause I’ve been doing too much. I’ve been on tennis too often but I don’t care. See y’all again on Friday.”
With both his friends facing off against each other in the next round, it’ll be interesting to see who Jimmy G Buckets cheers for. Trying not to favor any of the two players, the two-way star has made a pretty smart decision by not being present for the contest.
Butler faced off Carlos Alcaraz during a charity exhibition match ahead of the US Open
Jimmy Butler is a dominant force on the basketball court. While he is one of the more feared defenders in the league, his athletic skills don’t benefit him on the tennis courts. Despite being not-so-great at tennis, Butler managed to steal a point while playing against the World No.1.
Prior to the start of the US Open, Jimmy was present at the Louis Armstrong Stadium for a charity event. Usually seen in the stands, this time, Butler took on the court and played the perfect role of a ball boy. Upon Frances Tiafoe’s request, Butler agreed to play against Carlos. Using Alcaraz’s favorite shot – the drop shot – Jimmy lured the 20-year-old close to the net. And ultimately, finished by winning the point.
