My Day At the US Open

Friday 4^th September 2015 marked my first ever visit to the US Open Grand Slam event.

I am a veteran of attending tennis events in the UK, attending Wimbledon, Queens, and the ATP World Tour Finals in London on multiple occasions.

But going through the gates on Day Five I was not sure what to expect. Was it to be like Wimbledon, an extremely reserved, dignified event? Or was it to be similar to the other American sporting events in Major League Soccer and Major League Baseball, both a little more laidback and free-flowing?As the day progressed it became evident that it was much more the latter.

The first and perhaps most important note for first-time visitors is that backpacks are not allowed. Fortunately, I had researched the website and understood the rules. There is a check-in point where people can drop off backpacks if they have brought them but it is still a hassle. Odd I thought but prepared as I was, I let it go, borrowing a bag from my sister. I was also relieved that Day Five brought some of the more mild weather in a week of sweltering temperatures in New York.

The first thing that is immediately apparent when exiting the subway station, is that tennis was far from the only sport on the agenda at Mets-Willets station. A sign directed us one for tennis, another towards CitiField, home of the MLB team the New York Mets. The Mets stadium is clearly visible from Arthur Ashe and indeed many locations around Flushing Meadows.

The queuing that has become synonymous with Wimbledon was virtually non existent; just a brief airport-style security checkpoint that took only ten minutes to navigate. A far cry from the four hours plus that can await a spectator in The Queue at Wimbledon. I had purchased Arthur Ashe day session tickets in advance of the actual event, as unlike Wimbledon, it seemed that few or no premier court seats were reserved for sale on the day of play, and tickets were readily available online. No need for The Ballot or The Queue!

We entered the gates at around nine-thirty in the morning, half an hour after they had opened, but still a good hour and a half before play was to begin. We walked around marvelling at the spacious grounds, one highlight proving to be the massive variety of food stands available. There was everything from pizza, to barbecue, Chinese, and Mexican food a truly massive choice compared with Wimbledon’s strawberries and cream and limited vendors. The shops were selling typical yet interesting memorabilia, and there was a shop selling used balls from select matches in the main concourse area (I considered purchasing a ball from Mardy Fish’s final match with Feliciano Lopez but decided against it).

After a brief tour of the commercials sales areas, we headed for the main early attractions. Still only ten am this did not involve heading straight for our seats on Arthur Ashe, but to the outer courts. Experience of Wimbledon led me to expect that I would find players even at this early stage, perhaps going through drills, or simply warming up for later matches.

I was not to be disappointed. Almost straight away I came across two veterans in Tommy Haas and Radek Stepanek going through their paces. Both had already lost their singles openers, but had elected to play doubles together, and I had the privilege of a front row seat of their warm-up.

I was not finished though, and my eyes quickly turned to Court Seventeen, one of the showcase outer courts. There I found Jo Wilfried-Tsonga and Benoit Paire. Paire was to play first on that very same court an hour later against Tommy Robredo. I took in another walk around the grounds, during which I noted the prominent location of the ESPN booth, and a board detailing the exact time that a player was due to practice and where (subject to change of course). These included Roger Federer and Andy Murray’s practice slots.

En route back to Court Seventeen, I approached a recognisable figure in British tennis as he made his way to the same match. James Keothavong was to umpire our match, but he kindly stopped for a few words and a picture, before we all made our way for the match. I did not stay for the duration, but we enjoyed the first set during which both players had opportunities to break, with Paire attacking, and producing trademark drop shots that earned colourful but light-hearted gestures from Robredo. The spaniard then took an early lead in the tiebreak, before dropping five straight points as Paire recovered to take the set. We then left. I later learned that Paire had gone on win, dropping just two more games.

My mother then left for Arthur Ashe, but I took a detour back to the practice courts and again struck gold as I saw Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth warming up for their doubles. I was impressed with Hewitt’s commitment, after his late finish the night before in the draining five-set thriller against Bernard Tomic. Heading to Ashe I also glimpsed Pierre Hugues-Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

It was finally time to take our seats on Arthur Ashe, the home of tennis in North America. Even on route to our seats, I was shocked by how vast the stadium was. It was a massive structure that looked impressive, dwarfing the Wimbledon courts that I am so used to, though I thought it lacked a little of the character that the ivy wall provides Centre Court. Arriving at our allotted seats in the very front row of the top tier seats, I found the view akin to that provided to ATP World Tour Finals spectators at London’s 02 Arena. Seemingly distant from the court yet able to see all the action clearly.

We caught the second set of Ekaterina Makarova, and Elina Svitolina, with Makarova coming back from a second set deficit to progress. I noted that in between games that pop music was played, and cameras zoomed around looking for interesting pictures amongst the fans, it had a nice relaxed feel to it, and a very different offering than the sometimes rigid Wimbledon experience. Venus Williams then took to the court, against Belinda Bencic, a match I had been massively looking forward to. I had seen Venus before back at Wimbledon in 2009, and was intrigued to see the young, in-form Bencic. Williams looked mostly in control, also retrieving a second set deficit before winning in straight sets. As we left the match involving the doubles pair of Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson was still going on, and the atmosphere was pretty intense as the pair garnered a lot of home support. It afforded me a great chance to briefly explore the kind of support that the home Americans receive.

Novak Djokovic then arrived as he took to the court against Andreas Seppi. The Italian fought well, briefly leading in the first set, holding serve strongly through most of the second, and breaking the World No.1 as he served for the match in the third. Djokovic though, progressed in straight sets. Th feature of players hitting three balls into the crowd at the end was excellent, an event that many people stayed for right to the end to experience. I was right at the top tier seating however, and had no chance of getting one!

It was then time to vacate Ashe, as the night session was due to begin. We headed for the exit having thoroughly enjoyed our day, and I bought a cap and fridge magnet as souvenirs of my first ever visit to the final Grand Slam of the year. We then left and I had enjoyed my day so much that as I left I enquired with interest to buy any Arthur Ashe night session tickets for the weekend, or early into the following week. Unfortunately, and not surprisingly, I found that they were all sold out!