I decided to knock off a bucket-list item and attend my first US Open this year. I have not bought any tickets but i'm hoping to go at least 1 day, maybe 2. Are there any recommendations where to buy reasonable priced tickets? Should I just pre-buy them through the US Open website now? If i plan to attend 1st wknd match, I noticed that the 7pm matches are cheaper. Is this the way to go if i'm on a bit of a budget? I'm also planning to stay in Manhattan. Is it an issue catching subway late at night if matches run super late?
First time Attending US Open - Any Tips
- Thread starter DaDave
- Start date
Curtennis
Hall of Fame
The subway will not be an issue at all in terms of scheduling. Whether or not it’s a pleasant ride is unknown. While statistically you’re still super safe, I’d probably be cautious about those particular subway lines too late assuming it isn’t already crowded with US Open goers, which it likely will be.
I go to the Yankees all the time and while I wouldn’t be caught dead hopping on an 11pm Bronx subway by myself, the yankee games are always packed to and fro. I’d imagine the US Open will be the same.
if you're really on a budget... just do qualifiers for free.
get to see top names practicing with each other, can move around freely, less crowds, etc...
much prefer doing quallies than dealing with the crowds during the early days of the tourney... granted i do live nearby, and have been to every phase of the tourney in the past (from 1st rnd to finals)
i usually take the week off for quallies, and go every day.
i am more interested in watching how they train, than the actual matches though...
memorable matches/practices i've seen recently:
* shapo & faa - before they were seeded
* fed practice matches with different folks
* nadal practice matches with different folks
* shwartzman practice matches (i'm short!)
* bublik practices... unorthodox and interesting (who practices deep cc drive, cc dropper?)
* kyrgios with anyone is entertaining... always goofing and joking, especially with sock...
etc...
get to see top names practicing with each other, can move around freely, less crowds, etc...
much prefer doing quallies than dealing with the crowds during the early days of the tourney... granted i do live nearby, and have been to every phase of the tourney in the past (from 1st rnd to finals)
i usually take the week off for quallies, and go every day.
i am more interested in watching how they train, than the actual matches though...
memorable matches/practices i've seen recently:
* shapo & faa - before they were seeded
* fed practice matches with different folks
* nadal practice matches with different folks
* shwartzman practice matches (i'm short!)
* bublik practices... unorthodox and interesting (who practices deep cc drive, cc dropper?)
* kyrgios with anyone is entertaining... always goofing and joking, especially with sock...
etc...
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darkhorse
Semi-Pro
It depends on what you want to see and what you mean by "on a budget". The night session tickets are cheaper because there's fewer matches scheduled, but on the stadium courts you'll get to see the big names. I went in 2021 Wed.-Fri of the first week and I bought a grounds pass then a reserved seat in one of the stadium courts for the night. Remember that Armstrong has GA seating (meaning a grounds pass is enough to get in assuming there are seats available). I was lucky in that there was only rain the day I arrived, but it's nice to have a seat in one of the stadiums in case it does rain, and reserved seats can act as a grounds pass. Reserved seating can be bought via the US Open app (I think) and prices are reasonable if you buy them day of. Prices do seem to have gone up since I went, and I had access to the AmEx presale.
I also stayed in Manhattan and it was easy to take the subway to the facility, I never felt unsafe and it was usually packed with tennis fans (and Mets fans if they had a game). I even took a train at like 2am and it was fine. I stayed a short walk away from Grand Central so I never lost my bearings.
Basically, if you're there to see the top players, you're going to pay for it (the upper bowl in Ashe is worse than watching it on the screen outside the stadium). If you just want to watch tennis all day, get yourself a grounds pass or cheap stadium ticket and wander the grounds and check the app to see what matches look good. If you plan to stay for the night session, check the app to see if you can get a cheap ticket to Armstrong or Ashe that day (you probably will).
I also stayed in Manhattan and it was easy to take the subway to the facility, I never felt unsafe and it was usually packed with tennis fans (and Mets fans if they had a game). I even took a train at like 2am and it was fine. I stayed a short walk away from Grand Central so I never lost my bearings.
Basically, if you're there to see the top players, you're going to pay for it (the upper bowl in Ashe is worse than watching it on the screen outside the stadium). If you just want to watch tennis all day, get yourself a grounds pass or cheap stadium ticket and wander the grounds and check the app to see what matches look good. If you plan to stay for the night session, check the app to see if you can get a cheap ticket to Armstrong or Ashe that day (you probably will).
c-had
Rookie
Agreed with much of what's been said. Couple things:
It does depend on what you want to see. I really like being able to see parts of lots of matches and get up close to the players like you can on the non-stadium courts. For that, the day session has a lot more options than then night, and week 1 has more to offer than week 2. Here's a link to the schedule from Day 4 of last year (just to pick a random day): https://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/2022/schedule/pdf/schedulePDF10.pdf . Note that there are a lot more matches during the day than the night. If I have to choose, I choose day session.
If you're thinking of getting a grounds pass, check into the prices of stadium seats too. Often you can find a cheap stadium seat for as cheap or cheaper than a grounds pass, and a stadium seat gets you the grounds as well. And if you want to go to the stadium, you've got a seat.
Also, I've had luck getting cheap tickets by waiting till the last minute. The morning of can work, but so can the evening of the day before after they put out the next day's schedule. Lots of folks seem to have tickets for a whole week, then wait to see who's playing when and dump the tickets they don't want then. Of course, this strategy is nerve-wracking, spending the time/money to travel and not having tickets in hand. And I'll caveat this by saying that I haven't been back since the pandemic changed everything, so this may or may not work any more.
It does depend on what you want to see. I really like being able to see parts of lots of matches and get up close to the players like you can on the non-stadium courts. For that, the day session has a lot more options than then night, and week 1 has more to offer than week 2. Here's a link to the schedule from Day 4 of last year (just to pick a random day): https://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/2022/schedule/pdf/schedulePDF10.pdf . Note that there are a lot more matches during the day than the night. If I have to choose, I choose day session.
If you're thinking of getting a grounds pass, check into the prices of stadium seats too. Often you can find a cheap stadium seat for as cheap or cheaper than a grounds pass, and a stadium seat gets you the grounds as well. And if you want to go to the stadium, you've got a seat.
Also, I've had luck getting cheap tickets by waiting till the last minute. The morning of can work, but so can the evening of the day before after they put out the next day's schedule. Lots of folks seem to have tickets for a whole week, then wait to see who's playing when and dump the tickets they don't want then. Of course, this strategy is nerve-wracking, spending the time/money to travel and not having tickets in hand. And I'll caveat this by saying that I haven't been back since the pandemic changed everything, so this may or may not work any more.
do you just hang out at the gate waiting for someone to sell?
I'm unsure what "fcfs" means, but an Ashe Stadium ticket, Armstrong reserved ticket, or Grandstand reserved ticket gives you access to all unreserved seats on all courts that have unreserved seats:
Unreserved seat breakdown:
*Ashe Stadium: no unreserved seats (i.e. need Ashe ticket for a given session to access Ashe)
*Armstrong Stadium: half/little more than half seats are unreserved (basically all upper level seats on both sides of the court)
*Grandstand: 90% or so of the seats are unreserved (all but the seats very close to the court)
*All other courts (including Court 17, i.e. the #4 court): all unreserved seats
With day session vs night session - day session tickets allow entry before the 11 AM start of matches, and provide access the entire day to all unreserved seats on all courts that have them. This includes the unreserved seats in Armstrong during the NIGHT session. Night session tickets allow entry at 6 PM. You can watch matches still on-going or scheduled on any court besides Ashe or Armstrong. (Night session tickets only come in two types - Ashe and Armstrong reserved. Grandstand reserved and grounds pass tickets are only available for the day session, though you can enter the grounds with them at any time of the day.)
1) The best way to buy single session tickets for the U.S. Open is to buy them when they go on sale in early June (or during the American Express pre-sale that occurs the week before that, usually starting the day after Memorial Day). Failing that, the next best option, if direct sale tickets from the USTA aren't available at Ticketmaster or at the box office (and they won't be on the Saturday through Monday of Labor Day weekend or probably the Friday of that weekend either) is to buy resale tickets the night before or the morning of the day you attend when many people are selling their tickets and it (usually) becomes a buyer's market for tickets. Ticketmaster is the official ticket partner of the U.S. Open, so I recommend buying tickets there, but other resale sites like StubHub, SeatGeek, etc. should also have tickets available for sale.
I'll note even direct sale and night before/morning of resale (day session) tickets won't be cheap relatively-speaking; if you buy Ashe day session tickets they will still likely be in the $100 to $150 range for 3rd/top level seats (I think they are called Promenade). On the other hand, you potentially get 12 hours of tennis if you stay the entire day, so if you look at it that way the cost isn't really that high. I would recommend trying to buy 2nd/middle level seats in Ashe if possible, if the cost isn't dramatically more than the 3rd level seats.
2) If you are on a budget, your best option is to attend the 1st or 2nd round (first Monday through first Thursday). On most/all of those days except maybe the Thursday, you probably will be able to buy tickets at the box office the day of play. Day session tickets cost more but provide a lot more tennis. You can enter the grounds before play starts at 11 AM with a day session ticket but you can't enter until 6 PM with a night session ticket.
An even better option with a budget is to attend qualifying the week before the main draw starts. Qualifying is spread out over (I think) four days, Tuesday to Friday. Entry to the grounds is FREE during qualifying.
One more note on the different types of tickets - there are four different types of day session tickets and two different types of night session tickets:
DAY SESSION TICKETS (entry as early as 9:30 AM before beginning of play at 11 AM)
*Ashe Reserved: provides reserved seat in retractable roof Ashe Stadium for the day session and access to all unreserved seats on all other courts the entire day (all courts besides Ashe have at least some unreserved seats)
*Armstrong Reserved: provides lower level reserved seat in retractable roof Armstrong Stadium and access to all unreserved seats on all courts except Ashe (no Ashe access) all day; this includes Armstrong unreserved seats during the night session
*Grandstand Reserved: provides courtside/near courtside reserved seat in non-roofed Grandstand and access to all unreserved seats on all courts except Ashe (no Ashe access) all day
*Grounds Pass: provides access to all unreserved seats on all courts except Ashe (no Ashe access) all day
NIGHT SESSION TICKETS (entry at 6 PM or later)
*Ashe Reserved: provides reserved seat in retractable roof Ashe Stadium for the night session and access to all unreserved seats on all other courts for any matches on-going/still scheduled after entry
*Armstrong Reserved: provides lower level reserved seat in retractable roof Armstrong Stadium and access to all unreserved seats on all courts except Ashe for any matches on-going/still scheduled after entry (no Ashe access)
One of my earlier posts breaks down the amount of reserved vs unreserved seating on all courts; take a look at that post for more details.
3) You'll have no issues getting the 7 train back to Manhattan after you leave/after the end of play. After the last match of the night is complete, the NYC MTA will hold a 7 train and run it super express back to Manhattan (only 3 or so stops before you get to Manhattan). Many other people who also attended the U.S. Open will be on that train with you. Even if you don't get that super express 7 train, the NYC MTA subways operate 24/7, so you can still get back to Manhattan without a problem.
I do have a couple of recommendations related to your last question:
*For even faster (though slightly more expensive) travel between Manhattan and the USTA NTC, consider using the LIRR Port Washington Branch. The trip is about half the time relative to a local 7 train (which is what you may be using to get to the USTA NTC). The LIRR Port Washington Branch stops (starts) at Penn Station in midtown Manhattan. (By contrast, the 7 train stops slightly further north, at Grand Central Terminal and Times Square among other stops.) The LIRR platform is also closer to the USTA NTC than the 7 train platform is. (The 7 train platform is closer to Citi Field where the Mets play.)
*To save money on lodging, you could try to stay at a hotel near a 7 train station in Long Island City in western Queens across the East River from Manhattan. The two years I attended the U.S. Open for multiple days by myself (2015 & 2016), I stayed at a hotel near the Queensboro Plaza 7 train station. That worked great; not only was the hotel near a 7 train stop, but Queensboro Plaza is an express stop, so that super express train I mentioned above stops there. You aren't going to get a 5 star hotel in Long Island City, but you will get something solid. Many, many fans attending the USO for multiple days stay in this area.
So i haven't bought tickets yet and i'm hoping to go during labor day on Saturday. I was looking at Ashe daytime and it's about $340 after fees. Should I wait til day before or day of and should I be using Stubhub and SeatGeek at that time or is CL/FB marketplace the only spot where it'll get cheaper? Does TT have a classified section too?
I recommend looking at all of the resale sites (start with Ticketmaster but look at the all the ones you are aware of/familiar with - besides the ones already mentioned there are GameTime, TickPick, Vivid Seats, and a few others) and try to buy the night before or morning of play. You could also look shortly after the main draw is released (believe that will be next Thursday, August 24th) and 2-3 days in advance and may be able to get a good deal that way, especially if a "name" player that is popular is scheduled on the Tuesday 8/29-Thursday 8/31-Saturday 9/2 half of the draw and is upset in the 1st or 2nd round.
The first Saturday (Saturday of Labor Day weekend) is always one of the most popular days for people to attend the U.S. Open. (This is why I avoid going that day unless I have a weekend mini-plan ticket, LOL.) Ticket demand is very high on that day every year. If you are able to do so, I recommend trying to see if you can go instead the day before (first Friday), which also will entirely/mostly feature 3rd round action. Demand is also high on the Friday before Labor Day but definitely not as high as it is the following day/first Saturday.
socallefty
G.O.A.T.
I avoid going to 1.5-2 week tournaments like IW and the USO on the first weekend because it is way too crowded. I can only imagine that a holiday weekend is even worse. If you are not a regular at pro tournaments, you probably want to see a lot of players, matches, practice sessions etc. In that case you are better off attending on a weekday and probably resale ticket prices will be less too. On the weekend, a lot of courts will be too full for you to wander around and see many players/matches.
c-had
Rookie
No, I just buy tickets in the Ticketmaster app. Just keep checking the app and prices will fluctuate.
