Althea Gibson Comic Book Part Of Free Revamped Fan Week

Cover of comic book collaboration between Marvel and the US Open commemorating Althea Gibson and 75 Years of Breaking Barriers.

Courtesy Marvel

The 2025 U.S. Open will feature a Marvel comic book giveaway celebrating Althea Gibson and the Fantastic Four as part of a broader fan experience that includes concerts, new mixed doubles, kid’s day and qualifying round action. Most of these fan-friendly activities are free and part of the U.S. Open’s revamped Fan Week.

“It’s all about, how can we expand and extend the U.S. Open and interest to other new audiences,” said Nicole Kankam, USTA Head of Marketing and Entertainment. “So you can come onto the grounds, for free, just walk in, watch some great tennis content, see the qualifying tournament, see players practice.”

Last year, the U.S. Open collaborated with Marvel to produce 15,000 comic books featuring Carlos Alcaraz, Jessica Pegula, Naomi Osaka, and other tennis stars as Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

Marvel is part of the vast Disney empire, which includes ESPN, the U.S. Open’s domestic broadcast partner.

The 2025 U.S. Open theme is “75 Years of Breaking Barriers,” which honors the anniversary of Gibson becoming the first Black person to play at the U.S. Lawn Tennis Championships (now the U.S. Open).

The 2024 comic book collaboration was so popular that this year the U.S. Open is giving away 40,000 comic books. To get a comic book, you need to sign up for the Fan Access Pass, a free app.

“We also want to make sure that people aren’t coming and taking like, 20 comic books themselves,” said Kankam. “So once you redeem your fan access pass, that’s your ability to retrieve one comic book. And with the Fan Access Pass, you can do other things too. You can have a chance to win other prizes.”

The Althea Gibson Marvel comic book giveaway comes a few days after Disney and Marvel Studios released The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie.

The comic book’s story is set at the U.S. Open and weaves Gibson’s biography and accomplishments into the Fantastic Four’s adventures.

“The really exciting thing about this whole collaboration and having givin us an opportunity to tell Althea stories,” said Kankam. “Althea’s estate, her family, loves it. . . her niece was moved to tears after reading the story, and so they’ve really embraced it and been a part of it.”

US Open Offers Free Access To Arthur Ashe Stadium

Arthur Ashe stadium is the U.S. Open’s largest show court and the most expensive ticket during main draw play. But during Fan Week, visitors to Flushing Meadows can enter Ashe, for free.

Ashe will be open to the public throughout Fan Week, beginning Monday, August 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fans can watch top singles players practice while getting a feel for the atmosphere in the largest tennis stadium in the world.

The top-seeded players get more access to show courts for practice. During Fan Week, you can watch top players on Ashe, Louis Armstrong Stadium and many of the outer courts. Fan Week is probably the best chance tennis fans have of seeing top players up close without spending hundreds or thousands for court side or clubhouse seats.

The qualifying rounds get underway and are also free during Fan Week. The single-elimination format of the qualifying rounds can prove more intense than matches in the main draw. This year, 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu will be competing in qualifying.

New US Open Mixed Doubles Format

The 2025 U.S. Open debuts the controversial new mixed doubles format, perhaps the hottest ticket during Fan Week. The two-day mixed doubles championship precedes the rest of the tournament and will feature pairings of popular singles players and doubles specialists.

Alcaraz is teaming up with Emma Raducanu. Jannik Sinner will play with Emma Navarro. Venus Williams will partner with Reilly Opelka.

The controversy centers on using singles players’ rankings instead of doubles to seed pairings. Many doubles specialists, who depend on Major tournaments for the bulk of their annual income, voiced opposition to the new format.

Katarina Siniakova, winner of ten Grand Slam doubles titles and one Major mixed doubles trophy, failed to qualify for mixed doubles under the new format and had to apply for a wildcard.

In an interview with Canal+ Czechia, a Czech video streaming platform, Siniakova said, “When two world No. 1s in doubles don’t get into the tournament, there’s probably nothing more to say about it.

Sinner and Alcaraz, who rarely play doubles, received direct entry, but defending mixed doubles champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, and No. 1-ranked women’s doubles player, Taylor Townsend, needed a wildcard.

Martina Navratilova, winner of ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, posted her disapproval on X.

“It’s an exhibition and I am fine with that. Shame for the people who specialize in doubles and mixed and many will miss out on the opportunity to play and make some good money. I hope it’s not counted as a real tournament.”

“How can it count when it is an exhibition where highly ranked doubles players who don’t get a chance to play at all? That is just wrong. Makes a mockery of the title…just imo.”

The draw might look different next week. With the mixed doubles starting a day after the Cincinnati Open ends, some top-ranked players may withdraw, making this experiment more problematic.

The revamped mixed doubles will be played in best-of-three sets (of four games) and will award $1 million in prize money to the winning team.

You must be an adult to register for the Fan Access Pass and provide your name and email address. Fans are allowed access to the Billie Jean King Center without the Fan Access Pass, but for the whole experience and the comic book, you’ll need to register for the pass.

Enhancing Fan Week has transformed the U.S. Open into a three-week event that caters to a diverse audience, including avid tennis fans, celebrities, high rollers, and casual watchers alike.