Spike Lee has long been a fixture in the sidelines of New York Knicks games at Madison Square Garden. This time around, he has gone viral after creating a scene watching Coco Gauff at the US Open.

Lee was watching Gauff's fourth-round match against Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday. Gauff hit a forehand smash that Wozniacki failed to return. The ball bounced hard off the court and into the stands where Lee was sitting. Television replays showed an incredulous Spike Lee looking around his area for the ball. Unfortunately, he couldn't find it. Worse, it's a safe bet somebody else got the souvenir.

Coco Gauff beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 US Open. The 19-year-old became the first American teenager to pull off the feat in consecutive years since Serena Williams in the early 2000s.

Gauff has been on a tear since Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler intervened and helped her improve her mental game. She now has won 15 of her past 16 matches since her disappointing first-round exit at Wimbledon two months ago. Gauff will next face the winner of the Iga Swiatek-Jelena Ostapenko fourth-round matchup.

Coco Gauff's tenacity was on full display in her first-round match against Germany's Laura Siegemund on August 29. Gauff was furious chair umpire Marijana Veljovic took too long in her serves. Gauff claimed the latter “went over the clock like four times” yet Veljovic gave her a time infraction just once. Cameras captured the 19-year-old's rant on national television to the delight of the sellout crowed at Arthur Ashe stadium that included former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.

As for Spike Lee, let's hope he doesn't go home empty-handed once the 2023 US Open tournament ends.