When Ben Stiller was ‘peer pressured’ by an ATP star into hitting balls with him at the US Open

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It is well known that American actor Ben Stiller is a keen tennis fan.

The award-winning star has been spotted at big events on the ATP Tour multiple times over the years, such as Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

At the US Open in 2022, however, he was not just a viewer from the stands, having been asked by former world number eight Diego Schwartzman to train with him.

Stiller was hesitant at first, but was ultimately roped in by the Argentine to hit balls in front of fans in the Louis Armstrong Stadium at Flushing Meadows.

Ben Stiller’s training session with Diego Schwartzman

In an interview with the US Open that year, Stiller was asked how the experience of hitting with Schwartzman was, to which he replied: “It was ridiculous.

“Diego and I are friends, and he said, ‘Hey, come out and see me practice… we can hit some balls,’ and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really cool! I’ve never done that before.’

“But what I didn’t know was that there were going to be people in the stands! I thought it was going to be a closed practice on the practice court or whatever. And it’s like, no, we’re in Louis Armstrong Stadium. And then there are 500 people in the stands.

“And I said to him, ‘There’s no way I’m doing this. I can’t do it.’ And he says, ‘No, no, no, Ben, you must, you must!’

“So I got sort of peer-pressured by him into it, and it ended up being really fun because… I just wanted to get it over the net. And then by the end of it, I was like, ‘Oh, if I just had another hour, I could really do something here!'”

Ben Stiller’s reaction to Diego Schwartzman’s last US Open match

Schwartzman announced in May 2024 that he would officially retire from tennis at the 2025 Argentina Open.

His campaign at the US Open in 2024 was his last Grand Slam run, and it ended with a defeat in the first round to Gael Monfils.

Reacting to his exit in New York that day, Stiller sent him a message on social media, taking to X to say: “Going to miss seeing my friend @dieschwartzman play with all the heart and skill and fire he has always brought.

“Amazing career representing Argentina. Now it’s on to new challenges.”

Schwartzman won his first match at the 2025 Argentina Open, but lost his second, which marked the end of his career.