Hedge fund billionaire John Paulson has occupied the prime courtside seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium for five of Djokovic’s biggest US Open matches since 2011, wins and losses alike. The two men have no documented friendship or business connection. Paulson has never publicly explained why he keeps going back.
In September 2012, past midnight at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens, John Paulson took off his tie and wrapped the silk around his neck as a scarf. The temperature had fallen thirty degrees since the afternoon. Novak Djokovic was in the fifth set of a US Open final he was going to lose to Andy Murray. Paulson stayed until the last point.
He came back the following September, and the one after that.
There is no business deal between Paulson and Djokovic, no charitable partnership, and no reported contact between the two men. The connection runs through one specific location: the prime courtside seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Paulson has appeared at five of Djokovic’s biggest US Open matches since 2011, confirmed by Getty Images, Reuters wire photography, Bloomberg, and the New York Times DealBook. He was in the building for two of Djokovic’s US Open wins and for two of his final losses. He has never said anything about it on the record.
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Who Is John Paulson?
Paulson was born on December 14, 1955, in Beechhurst, Queens. His father, Alfred, came to the United States from Ecuador after being orphaned at fifteen, served in the US Army during World War II, was wounded in Italy, and later changed the family name from Paulsen to Paulson. His mother was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Romania.
He graduated summa cum laude from NYU in 1978 and completed his MBA at Harvard Business School in 1980 as a Baker Scholar, finishing in the top five percent of his class. He founded Paulson & Co. in July 1994 with $2 million.
In 2007, while banks and rating agencies held a consensus view of a stable US housing sector, Paulson used credit default swaps to bet the subprime mortgage market would fail. When it did, his fund earned approximately $15 billion. Paulson personally earned close to $4 billion that year, one of the largest individual earnings in a single year in Wall Street history.
By 2015, his net worth reached $11.2 billion. The most recent Forbes estimate puts it at approximately $3.8 billion. Paulson & Co. now operates primarily as a family office. In June 2025, his firm paid $800 million for a 40% stake in the Donlin Gold project in southwest Alaska, one of the world’s largest undeveloped gold deposits, jointly acquired with NOVAGOLD Resources from Barrick Mining. He is 70 years old.
Who Is Novak Djokovic?
Djokovic was born on May 22, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia. He holds 24 Grand Slam singles titles, the most of any man in the Open Era, and has been World No. 1 for 428 weeks, also a record. In March 2025, winning the Geneva Open, he became only the third man in professional tennis history to claim 100 ATP titles, after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer. He won Olympic gold at Paris 2024.
At the US Open specifically, his record is four titles, 10 finals, 14 semifinals, and 91 match wins across the tournament. His US Open titles came in 2011, 2015, 2018, and 2023. When he won in 2023 at 36, he became the oldest men’s champion in US Open history in the Open Era.
He turned 39 in May 2026 and, as of early June, is competing at Roland-Garros.
The Documented Record at Arthur Ashe Stadium
Each appearance listed below is confirmed through a named source. Beyond these five, no additional courtside appearances are documented in publicly available records.
| Year | Match | Result for Djokovic |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | vs. Carlos Berlocq, early round | Won; won the tournament that year |
| 2012 | Final vs. Andy Murray | Lost, 5 sets, 4 hours 54 minutes |
| 2015 | Final vs. Roger Federer | Won, 2nd US Open title |
| 2016 | Final vs. Stan Wawrinka | Lost |
| 2018 | Final vs. Juan Martรญn del Potro | Won, 14th Grand Slam |
In 2012, Djokovic lost. In 2016, he lost again. Paulson was in the front row both nights. No statement from him was recorded after either match.
September 10, 2012
Andy Murray and Djokovic had been playing since the afternoon. By the fifth set, the temperature at Arthur Ashe had fallen to the low fifties. The USTA had sent blankets around to spectators earlier in the evening. Paulson had missed that. He removed his tie, unbuttoned his top button, and wrapped the silk around his neck as a scarf. A reporter from the New York Times DealBook was working the courtside that night and recorded the improvisation. Murray won 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2. Paulson was back at the US Open the following year.
September 9, 2018
Djokovic defeated Juan Martรญn del Potro to claim his 14th Grand Slam title, matching Pete Sampras’s career total. The match ran three hours under a closed roof while rain fell outside the stadium. Bloomberg placed Paulson to the right of the umpire’s chair, in the prime courtside section, alongside his then-wife Jenny. Others confirmed in attendance that night included Henry Kravis, Bill Ackman, Jack Dorsey, Travis Kalanick, Jerry Seinfeld, and Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, who has since publicly acknowledged a personal friendship with Djokovic and a donation he made to the Djokovic Foundation in 2016. After the match, a reporter asked Paulson for his reaction. He shook his head and said nothing.
Two Careers, One Borough
Paulson’s 2007 trade was not built on having better models than everyone else. It was built on watching a market the financial establishment had collectively decided did not need watching, and holding that position through months when it kept moving against him. He did not publicize it. He waited for the outcome to make the case.
For most of Djokovic’s prime at the US Open, the crowd at Arthur Ashe preferred a different winner. Federer drew the standing ovations. Nadal had the reverence of the full house. Djokovic, more often than not, played in front of a stadium quietly rooting for the other side. He won there four times anyway, the last time at 36, when most of the tennis world had assumed his best results were behind him.
Arthur Ashe Stadium sits in Flushing, in the Queens borough of New York City. John Paulson was born in Beechhurst, also in Queens, a few miles from the stadium. He grew up in the same borough where the US Open has been played since 1978. Every September, he comes back to it.
Where Both Men Stand in 2026
Paulson, 70, has been running Paulson & Co. as a family office for several years. In June 2025, his firm paid $800 million for a 40% stake in the Donlin Gold project in southwest Alaska, jointly acquired with NOVAGOLD Resources from Barrick Mining. Both partners hold equal governance rights over the project.
Djokovic, 39, reached the US Open semifinal last September before losing to Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. He holds 24 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic gold medal from Paris, and the all-time record for weeks at World No. 1.
Paulson has been making the same trip to Flushing since at least 2011. He has not explained it. Fourteen years in, the silence is its own kind of answer.
