For many fans attending the US Open, the experience extends beyond watching the biggest names in tennis compete for the title. The tournament has also become known for its fashion, celebrity-filled stands and food and drink offerings, with one particular cocktail becoming closely associated with the event.
The Honey Deuce is the official cocktail of the US Open and has become a familiar sight around the grounds during the two-week tournament. Created by Grey Goose, the drink is made with vodka, lemonade and raspberry liqueur, while honeydew melon balls are added to resemble tennis balls. The cocktail has also become a costly but popular tradition, with Grey Goose reporting that more than 740,000 Honey Deuces were sold at the 2025 US Open. So, what exactly is the Honey Deuce, and why has it become such a big part of the US Open experience?
Honey Deuce Explained: What Is the US Open’s Official Cocktail?
Every spring, Jared Walton, director of national accounts at Baldor Specialty Foods, makes a crucial call to Turlock Fruit Company in California. With the US Open still months away, the two sides have to work out how many honeydew melons will be needed for the tournament. The fruit eventually travels thousands of miles to New York, where the melons are hand-scooped into small balls and placed three at a time on skewers to garnish the Honey Deuce, the US Open’s signature cocktail.
The numbers behind the drink are huge. In 2025, fans bought 738,459 Honey Deuces, generating more than $17 million in sales. For the 2026 tournament, around 8,000 cases of honeydew, enough to fill eight semi-trucks, are being transported from California to New York. The scale of the operation highlights how much preparation goes into a cocktail that many fans simply see as part of the US Open experience.
The Honey Deuce combines Grey Goose vodka, lemonade and raspberry liqueur, with three honeydew melon balls designed to look like tennis balls. Its recipe was deliberately kept simple so bartenders could prepare large quantities quickly and keep queues moving. Nick Mautone, who created the drink, experimented with several versions before settling on the recipe that debuted at the US Open in 2007.
The idea for a signature US Open cocktail came after Daniel Zausner, COO of the USTA National Tennis Center, visited the Kentucky Derby and saw how strongly fans connected with the famous mint julep. He wanted the US Open to have something similar that spectators would associate with the tournament. Mautone eventually found his inspiration at a Long Island farmers market, where he noticed honeydew melon balls that reminded him of tennis balls.
Mautone initially considered several names and recipes before settling on the Honey Deuce. The name refers to “deuce,” the tennis term used when both players are tied at 40-40. What started as a tournament drink has since grown into one of the most recognizable parts of the US Open, with sales increasing dramatically from the 24,000 cocktails sold during its 2007 debut.
Behind the Massive Honey Deuce Operation at the US Open
Keeping up with demand requires a major logistical effort. For 2026, the USTA ordered 800,000 collectible Honey Deuce cups, with three melon balls required for every drink. That works out to more than 2.4 million melon balls. The fruit has a shelf life of only about five days, so Baldor uses refrigerated storage at the tournament, while a team of more than 20 workers begins preparing the melon balls as early as 5:45 a.m. using hundreds of melon ballers.
The collectible cups have become almost as popular as the drink itself. Each cup features the names of previous US Open champions, allowing fans to take home a souvenir after finishing their cocktail. Some spectators stack the cups several feet high, while individual cups and sets can also appear on resale platforms. The tournament has even expanded the Honey Deuce brand into merchandise, including T-shirts, hats, towels, candles and melon ballers.
The drink’s popularity has also been fueled by celebrity appearances and social media. Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner, Timothée Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio have all been photographed with Honey Deuces, helping turn the cocktail into a visual symbol of attending the US Open. In 2025, Total Wine & More also recorded a 243% rise in transactions containing Grey Goose and Chambord during the final two weeks of the tournament. Nearly two decades after its introduction, the Honey Deuce has evolved from a simple tennis-themed cocktail into a major part of the US Open experience.
