US Open Tennis Tournament

Has anyone ever been to the US Open in Flushing? I'm looking to go up there for the first two days of the tournament. I have read many article and blogs and things of that sort, but it's usually about the atmosphere around Labor Day weekend. There's almost nothing out there about the first two days. I'm hoping to gauge what the crowds look like on those first two afternoons. If it's tough to get into matches and things like that. I really enjoy tennis, and I've always wanted to see it played live. Hopefully, someone around these parts has gone to this event and can give me some help.

 

I plan on doing just the Grounds Admission for both days, as I've heard that you can pretty much walk into Ashe if you really try, but it's not even worth it. There are a few players who it's almost assured will be on outer courts, so I want to check them out, plus I plan on court-hopping all day. From what I've read, it's actually better to either bring your own lunch (which I'm not opposed to) or leave the grounds, eating locally, and returning later on. I'm usually good with not eating for a few hours, so I can make it for more than half the day without spending money. Also, since they allow you to bring a water bottle in, I'm just going to refill that. I have a sixth sense in terms of cheapness.

When I asked about the crowd, I was just wondering about what size crowd would be there. I know that it gets busy, but I don't want to feel like I have to push and shove to watch a match on a side court, even if it's between two schlubs. As awesome as it would be to see a top tier player, I more watch lower tier players anyway because they're hungrier. If a player like Nadal or Federer dropped to Armstrong, I'd definitely go check it out, but I'd rather watch a couple of hungry lower ranked players battle it out, and I'm always up a strong 5-set match no matter if I never heard of either guy. I have the guys that I want to watch in mind, so I'll be sure to check them out first.

 

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I absolutely loved my time at the US Open. It was one of the best sporting experiences of my life. I went the first day with my wife, and the second day I went by myself. When you're by yourself, it's much easier to find single seats for close matches. I absolutely loved the fact that I could pick up and walk to any court and there would be a match taking place. The first day, my wife and I went to every single court and watched at least one game. Our least favorite was, naturally, Ashe. Everything said about it is true. It's cavernous, and there are bad seats to be had everywhere. This was from the first day when Venus Williams beat Kirsten Flipkens. The second picture is from my ACTUAL seats that I purchased when Federer beat up on some tomato can.

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My favorite court was Grandstand. Great seats everywhere, and there's always a good match going on. You could probably spend an entire day just on Grandstand and walk away satisfied. This was a match between Tobias Kamke and Steve Johnson. The place was practically empty at 6:30 pm. You could sit anywhere you wanted.

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Armstrong is a great court, too. It has great sightlines, and when the sun sets, it sets behind Ashe, so you can find a lot of good shade late in the day. This picture was from when 17-year-old Victoria Duvel beat Sam Stosur. I loved everything about this picture. It's one of my favorites.

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The single best part of all, though, is just how much you can see and do, and the day just flies right on by, and before you know it, it's 7 pm, and there's STILL tennis going on around you on the outer courts. I wanted to stay until all of the outer court matches were over, but I had a train to catch.

The best part about going on the first two days was that there's so much tennis going on that people are spread out over every court, so you can pretty much see anything you want. If there's a 5-setter going on out on the side courts, you can stand on the bleachers next to one of the courts on its side and watch. I did that for a few matches. Also, you get close enough to hear the players complaining, celebrating, everything.

I wanted to find some shade on the second day (it got incredibly hot in the sun), and I found refuge at a women's match that had about 20 people in the stands. I was glad I went. It had Alison Riske, who made it pretty far in this year's tournament. I wasn't really a fan of women's tennis, and it was mostly because of the unnecessary grunting, but the lower-tier players don't do that. They're all business, and it's great.

I sat first row in a bunch of good matches on the outer courts, and took some great pictures. One of my favorite in-match shots was also in one of my favorite matches. It was on Court 11, the biggest of the non-show courts. Bradley Klahn, who was a wild card, defeated Kenny De Schepper in 4 sets, with three of the sets requiring tiebreaks, including the final one. It was his greatest win, and, after he won, he pumped his fist to an adoring crowd. This was him serving the fourth set...

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Overall, my experience was excellent. I brought a sandwich, chips, a couple of granola bars, and two 1 liter bottles of water with me in a drawstring backpack, and it was no problem. The first day, my wife used her AmEx card to get the free radio, and that was well worth it, mostly because the commentary was live - like with no delay - even on a match you were currently watching. It definitely enhanced the experience. Food is a little expensive, but I brought my own food, so I didn't need to buy anything. However, on the second day, I bought waffle fries from between the Grandstand and Armstrong because I forgot to eat dinner, and, for $5, they were really good.

Getting tickets was a breeze. I got Arthur Ashe walk-up tickets on the day of without a problem. To buy Ashe tickets the day of is $62. To buy grounds admission is $56, but there's a $5 day-of-event purchase fee on those tickets, so getting Ashe just made too much sense. I got to see inside of it, watched a top player, and then bailed on the place because there's just no intimacy to it, and I only spent a buck more. After spending an entire day watching tennis from a spitting distance, it's hard to get into one when you're a mile away. On its face, the tickets seem expensive, but when you consider all that you get for the cost, it's worth it, just like BocaFan said.

Taking the train was simple. I was coming from just outside of Philadelphia, so I drove to Princeton, parked, and took the train to Manhattan. I walked up to Times Square from Penn Station, and caught the 7 train, and it was a breeze.

After going this year, I decided that I'm going to make this an annual thing. I would highly recommend that if you like tennis, even in the least, that you go at least once. It really is an awesome experience!!

 

It can be brutal out there at that time of year, but it wasn't too terrible when I went. I mean, it could've been much worse, and we got lucky in that we were spared any rain on the first two days, as I know that's usually a concern.

While moving the tournament to late September would be ideal for the fans and players (especially fans), the tennis calendar basically goes all year round, so I would assume it would be infringing on some smaller tournaments, and I'm sure those hosting the tournaments could use the money, as well as some of the more fringe players.

Aussie Open is held in their summer, so it'll always be in January, and the other 3 majors are in warm weather months, and they're separated enough to give players some time to rest, but still keep them active. Also, the US Open is a Labor Day tradition. I think the tournament is great when it is, despite the ungodly heat.