Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce Attend U.S. Open — 22 Years After 12-Year-Old Swift Sang ‘America the Beautiful’ There
Their New York City weekend included a dinner date in Brooklyn, a wedding celebration in Manhattan and the men’s final in Queens.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were spectators at the men’s final of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Sunday (Sept. 8) in New York City, where the two were pH๏τographed attending several social events together over the weekend.
Swift and Kelce were spotted going on a pizza date in Brooklyn on Friday, and celebrating Karen Elson and Lee Foster’s wedding at Electric Lady Studios in Manhattan on Saturday, before making it to the tennis match at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens on Sunday. If this is some kind of whirlwind tour around the city, only two boroughs remain in their welcome to New York this week: the Bronx and Staten Island.
The U.S. Open account on Instagram shared various videos of the pop star and football player on site Sunday afternoon, with Swift seen in a classic red gingham sundress (Reformation, $248) and Kelce in a white shorts-polo-cardigan ensemble topped with a bucket hat (all Gucci).
The couple watched the match in a suite with Kelce’s teammate Patrick Mahomes and his wife Brittany.
At one point, Swift and Kelce were filmed in the middle of an animated sing-along to “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” by The Darkness playing over the stadium’s loudspeaker.
The Instagram account also jogged memories with a post referencing Swift’s earliest known appearance at the U.S. Open: 2002, around this time of year.
The then-aspiring singer — at just 12 years old (soon to be 13, with her birthday being in December) — got the opportunity to sing “America the Beautiful” at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the complex where the U.S. Open is held.
Wearing a black, sleeveless dress and her long hair blow-dried straight, a young Swift — found in a clip that’s somewhat buried in a fan compilation video uploaded to YouTube over a decade ago — seemed aware of the art of commanding a crowd at what must have been one of her earliest stadium gigs. Even in her middle-school years, she didn’t shy away from taking a look around, or making eye contact with people watching from the stands.
At 12, with the slightest twang in her tone, Swift leaned on her early country influence for “America the Beautiful.” Her vocals have matured into something that’s all her own in her 30s, but that almost-teen’s performance is still unmistakably Swift.
“America, America, God shed his grace on thee,” she’s heard singing in the pre-fame clip.
Little did she know how many stadiums her name would headline, sell out and generate total ticket hysteria for within the next couple decades.
For September, and until Oct. 18, Swift’s on break from The Eras Tour, which will see a December finale. For now there’s no new Eras concert clips to pore over or ever-changing acoustic sets to anticipate.
Over the past several days the mind behind The Tortured Poets Department has been quite publicly out and about, which means fans have gotten a glimpse into her social calendar. Thursday night she showed up to support Kelce and the Chiefs at their Thursday game at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium before the couple headed to New York to hang out for the weekend.
Their public appearances this week come after an alleged media plan leak from Kelce’s team earlier in the week — an outline of a supposed strategy in the event of the tight end’s breakup with Swift, whom he’s been linked to for the past year. Kelce’s public relations team, Full Scope, whose logo was put on the papers circulating online, stated the document was “entirely false and fabricated.” A spokesperson for the company said it was “not created, issued, or authorized by this agency” and Full Scope has “engaged our legal team to initiate proceedings against the individuals or enтιтies responsible for the unlawful and injurious forgery of documents.” Swift’s reps did not issue a comment.
