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How the Honey Deuce Became the Real Star of the U.S. Open

The Honey Deuce began with three melon balls and a 10,000-drink sales target. Now, the pink cocktail has become a collectible and the emblem of New York City's biggest late-summer party.

At the U.S. Open, Honey Deuces travel in packs. Tumblers bob along the promenade outside Arthur Ashe Stadium, each full of a pale-pink drink beneath a trio of green melon balls. By evening, the same cups ride the 7 train home in nested stacks, proof that a drink order can become a collecting habit before the night is over. For the uninitiated, the Honey Deuce is the tournament’s supremely photogenic official cocktail. Grey Goose and lemonade go over ice, followed by raspberry liqueur that settles near the bottom. The honeydew spheres stand in for tennis balls, while the name splices the fruit with “deuce,” the 40-all score when a player must win two consecutive points to take the game. It tastes like raspberry lemonade with enough vodka to make the walk between stadiums part of the entertainment.

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The USTA sold 738,459 of them—priced at $23 each—in 2025, totaling $16.98 million—almost $7 million more than Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka received together for winning the singles titles. The cup survives the afternoon as take-home merchandise, and the garnish tells everyone across the concourse that its owner is probably off designated-driver duty. Flushing Meadows naturally encourages this sort of behavior: The U.S. Open is the last of tennis’s four annual Grand Slams and the only one held in New York, where planes bank toward LaGuardia above dance music and thousands of people treat the promenade as a second court. Wimbledon can keep its clipped lawns and Royal Box. Queens has a 23,000-seat arena where a night match can feel closer to prizefighting.

The tournament........

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