Six months after a crash that nearly cost her a leg, Lindsey Vonn is courtside at the US Open looking every bit the champion she has always been.
Fresh photos from Day 2 of the 2026 US Open Tennis Championships show the 41-year-old skiing legend at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, blending right in with the New York crowd. The images, captured by Shea Kastriner/USTA via Getty Images and John Nacion/Getty Images, capture Vonn in her element — composed, stylish, and clearly enjoying the tennis rather than the mountain.bd2551
Upi
She was spotted watching action in Arthur Ashe Stadium, including sitting near Jimmy Fallon during a first-round match. Just days earlier she had arrived on opening night in a striking olive-green dress and heels, with only a thin strip of medical tape visible on her left leg — the same leg that required multiple surgeries after her Olympic downhill crash in February.756d8f
Daily Mail
The glamorous appearance hides a harder reality.
Speaking to TNT Sports while at the tournament, Vonn was characteristically honest: “I still have another surgery, so I’m trying to get as strong as possible. And once I get my ACL, then I’ll have another long road ahead of me. But for now, I feel great, and I’m very thankful for that.”
She is targeting ACL reconstruction as early as November. After that, she faces roughly nine more months of recovery. Full clearance would not come until next summer or fall at the earliest. “I don’t really know what the future holds,” she added, “but like I said, I’m just thankful for where I am right now.”66e876
Reuters
The timeline is sobering. Vonn tore her ACL in a World Cup crash in late January, then chose to race the Olympic downhill anyway. Thirteen seconds into her run on February 8 she went off course and suffered a complex left tibia fracture that doctors feared might require amputation. Five surgeries saved the leg. The ACL has still not been repaired.665889
Japantimes
Yet here she is in Flushing Meadows, walking the grounds, watching matches, and looking stronger than many expected this soon.
Vonn has also been dipping into tennis itself. Days before the Open she served as chair umpire at a celebrity exhibition at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport and even hit a few points with Grand Slam champions. “Always wanted to try this… finally dipping my toes in my dream sport while on the road to recovery,” she posted. “It’s all about finding small victories and keeping the fire alive.”
That fire is still burning. Whether she ever returns to a World Cup start gate remains an open question. For now she is doing what she has always done: showing up, looking unbreakable, and refusing to let the next chapter be written for her.
The photos from Day 2 say it all. The mountain took a lot from Lindsey Vonn this year. It has not taken her spirit.
