Ahead of Madison Square Garden exhibition, Alcaraz, Navarro, Pegula and Shelton have whirlwind New York tour

Who says tennis in New York is only a summer thing? Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Navarro, Jessica Pegula and Ben Shelton are back in the Big Apple this week to shepherd tennis' return to Madison Square Garden for the Garden Cup exhibition event—and they're making the most of their second New York minute of 2024.

At Wednesday's event, the first tennis competition at the famous venue in six years, Pegula will face Navarro and Alcaraz will play Shelton, adding their names to the sport's once-perennial and storied legacy at "the world's most famous arena," which began at the turn of the Open Era eight decades ago and once was the home of both the ATP and WTA year-end championships.

Before then, though, the four players were out and about in the city, and even got a front-row seat to some of the other sporting action on offer at MSG.

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On Monday, Pegula was a guest for the New York Rangers' rivalry game against the New Jersey Devils, where she hit autographed tennis balls into the crowd and even presented one lucky hockey fan with her prize when she won an in-arena contest.

Pegula couldn't bring the home team any luck, though, as the Devils won the game, 5-1.

"The only thing I said was I couldn't wear any Rangers gear," joked the US Open finalist, whose parents own a different New York NHL franchise in the Buffalo Sabres.

A day later, all four players were back at MSG to watch the New York Knicks trounce the visiting Orlando Magic on the basketball court, 121-106. The foursome were presented with custom Knicks jerseys that featured their names and the number 24 on the back, signifying the year in which a tennis event returned to the arena.

"Need this same energy at MSG again tonight," wrote Shelton on Instagram Wednesday morning, as he showed off that he and Alcaraz even took a courtside selfie.

It's safe to say that the quartet made themselves right at home over the last few days, even if only one of the four, Pegula, is native even to New York state—and if their collective cab-hailing form needs a little work.

A tennis event was last held at MSG in 2018, when it played host to an edition of the Tie Break Tens that featured Serena and Venus Williams, and was won by Elina Svitolina. Other stars including Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro, and Kim Clijsters featured at annual exhibitions from 2008-17.

Fans can watch the Garden Cup from home on Tennis Channel beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday night.