Honey Deuce, US Open's signature cocktail, owes its origin to honeydew melon balls

The Honey Deuce cocktail, which made its debut at the U.S. Open in 2006, is arguably as popular today as the tennis tournament itself. 

Case in point: An awkward moment occurred during a broadcast this week when a man returning to his seat with two of the cocktails — one of which was presumably for the woman next to him — was beaten to it by another man seated in the row behind him.

But if not for one man's purchase of honeydew melon balls before a weekend in the Hamptons some years ago...