ESPN's broadcast team drew praise from tennis fans for a slick camera trick involving actor Pierce Brosnan during the US Open men's singles final between Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton on September 13, 2026, at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York.
The stadium was filled to capacity with fans and celebrities watching the two men compete for the year's final Grand Slam title. Brosnan, known for playing the fictional spy James Bond across four films, was among the famous faces in the crowd.
The US Open is one of tennis's four Grand Slam tournaments, played every year at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows. Arthur Ashe Stadium, the tournament's main court, is the largest tennis venue in the world and regularly draws a mix of top players and celebrities to its stands.
As the broadcast showed the match's time elapsed clock reading 0:07, the picture slowly dissolved into a shot of Brosnan watching the action from his seat.
The US Open's official account on X shared the clip, writing: "The camera panning from the clock at 0:07 to Pierce Brosnan. Absolute cinema." The post, shared on September 13, 2026, praised the transition even though it described it as a "pan" rather than the dissolve fans said they had actually seen.
Fans react to the broadcast
Viewers quickly picked up on the reference and flooded social media with compliments for whoever was behind the cameras. "Whoever directed that deserves the trophy," one user joked.
Another wrote, "D*** that's the good one!" while a separate comment read, "I bet the camera director and camera guy were smiling big after pulling this off." A fourth fan said, "give the camera operator a raise and give it to them by the end of business day today."
Who is Pierce Brosnan
Brosnan starred as 007 in four James Bond films released between the mid-1990s and early 2000s. His appearance at Arthur Ashe Stadium made him an easy target for the broadcast's playful nod to his best-known role.
Zverev wins the final
The camera work provided a lighter moment in a match that ended in disappointment for American fans. Zverev held off Shelton in four sets, winning 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-2 to claim his second Grand Slam title of the year.
The victory came in New York, where Zverev overcame a spirited fightback from Shelton in the third set to seal the title on the tournament's biggest stage.
