Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith, head coach Will Hardy and former BYU men’s basketball head coach Mark Pope (now the head coach at Kentucky) were all at the same sporting event Wednesday, but it wasn’t basketball.
At various times during the day, Smith, Hardy and Pope were seen at the US Open tennis tournament in Flushing, New York.
In the afternoon, Hardy was in attendance when Frances Tiafoe defeated Alexander Shevchenko at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Interestingly, Hardy was sitting a few seats away from New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges, who the Jazz reportedly attempted to acquire from the Brooklyn Nets this summer before he was traded to the Knicks.
In the evening, Smith and Pope were present with their wives when the legendary Novak Djokovic defeated Laslo Djere at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Djokovic won the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 and was leading the third set 2-0 when Djere retired due to injury.
Tiafoe will next face Ben Shelton in an all-American match in the third round, while Djokovic will face Alexei Popyrin.
Although Hardy and Pope are on a short break for now, they will resume in about a month when basketball training camps open.
