US Open TR:
My 77 yr old dad and I knocked off a bucket list item attending the US open this year. A few weeks before the tournament we snagged a good airfare from Dallas to New York round-trip to fly in Tuesday night and leave Thursday morning. We spent all day Wednesday watching day 2 of the quarterfinals. We both took up playing tennis at the same time back when I was 12 years old but neither of us had ever seen a pro tournament live.
Didn't know who would be playing the day we were going but figured there'd be some decent matches. I was really hoping to catch Fed play in case he calls it quits before I get a chance to see him. I bought some discounted tickets for lower promenade seats for the day session but had a hard time finding something for the night session.I finally found a guy on **** selling a pair of loge seats row A and was able to win that auction so we were all set. All we needed now was flights to run on time and more importantly good weather. At the airport I check stubhub just to see what courtside seats were going for and I saw a single one for the day session for $350 and figured I'll buy it and figure out a way for both of us to make it down there even if we have to alternate. It was in a good location and was situated on row E. I had been watching ticket prices for courtside seats and this is really the cheapest I came across all week .
We get to LaGuardia in smooth fashion and take a cab to the house where I rented a room in Jackson Heights that I found on Airbnb. We toss our bags and walk over to a nearby bar to catch some of the Novak match before heading back to go to sleep.
In the morning we grab a bagel breakfast sandwich and some coffee and walk over to the train station where we catch the 7 train over to Flushing. We end up getting to that Billy Jean King tennis center a bit early and hang out near the front gate. It's not swamped with people like it was over Labor Day which is nice and when they open the gate to get in quick. We head over to the practice court since the first match isn't going to be for another hour and my first pro sighting happened to be Flavia Penneta.
I didn't recognize her at first since her hair wasn't fully tied up like it usually is. She was hitting with her coach and they were jabbering away in Italian. 2 courts over was a tall blonde hitting service and I finally figured out that it was Petra Kvitova.
Again I didn't initially recognize her since she was dressed up and her hair done a little differently than she does during matches. The day session schedule look pretty good with Penetta vs Petra first up first followed by Halep vs Azarenka. The third match would be Wawrinka vs Kevin Anderson
We eventually enter Arthur Ashe Stadium after roaming around the ground, checking out some gorgeous Mercedes cars and waiting in line to get seat cushions from the Emirates Airline tent. I could easily see myself in this C63S.
Food and bev can get pricey here but they let you bring your own food which is smart if you're planning on making the most of your day
We went up to our seats I told my dad to hang out while I went down to check out the courtside seat I bought. There were not too many people in the stadium and when I got to my seat I waved up to him and he was able to come down and join me. View from our section was incredible and Petra got off to a good start winning the first set. Fortunately we were sitting in the shaded part of the court. It was a warm and very humid day. I don't think Petra was at full strength and as Flávia started to play more solidly you could see Petra running out of gas finally being felled in the third. I was rooting for her but Flavia obviously played great this entire two weeks
I was able to grab a seat behind baseline for third set to get these pics
What was most striking to me watching this caliber of tennis from our view was seeing the path of the ball as it leaves raquet and makes its way to other side of court. Many shots looked gravity defying as they would be laser straight and then suddenly bend downward. They hit some heavy shots. And their ability to hit an offensive shot when they are out of position stunned me. So impressed with how the women pros play. It's day and night different than on TV.
Petra match took longer to complete than usual for a women's match. Next up was Halep vs, Vika. Quality of play was better in this match and there were some stunning points. Vika made a nice comeback winning the second set and then we had a rain delay.
I couldn't understand why they don't have a tarp to pullover so that it would make the court ready quicker once the rain stopped. The delay was about an hour and when the rain stops the Zamboni looking machines came out and got the courts ready really fast.
For a smaller player Halep's serve really packs a punch
Dad and I were mesmerized watching these players from this close of a distance and we felt totally immersed in the matches, eg after a hard fought point that was followed by a fist pump there was a feeling of connection to that emotion that was much stronger than watching on TV. And the pace of shots on TV not as accurate as live. These ladies are crushing the ball. I left with newfound respect for the ladies of WTA.
Because of rain delay the Wawrinka-Anderson match got moved to Armstrong so that in case of more rain there would be ample Ike to have the night session matches. Right after Halep match we ran over to Armstrong but it was already packed with people.
I watched a few games and left at 7pm to get back into Ashe for night session. On the schedule was an exhibition match with McEnroe, Chang, Courier and someone else followed by Fed vs Gasquet. Due to rain they moved Fed match to start first. Despite having decent seats you can see the difference in vantage point.
Fed waved his Wilson wand around a few times and made short work of Gasquet. Even though my number 1 priority was to see Fed this scenario wasn't quite doing it for me. I left halfway through match Togo back to Warinka-Anderson match and got a good seat to catch the end of match. Stan looked sharp and Kevin didn't as he got bageled in 3rd set
After this I went back to Ashe to get my dad and we decided to pass on watching the exhibition doubles match and went to go buy some souvenirs. We got a US Open shirt for my daughter who was so jealous of us. Just outside Ashe we caught Fed giving a post match ESPN interview
To close out the night we caught some good doubles action. It was the mixed doubles semifinals. Paes/Hingis beat #2 seed Bopanna and partner. Hingis looks great for her age. Very fast paced action intros match.
We finally ate some dinner around 10pm and soaked in the day. My fitbit rang up 18,000 steps and we were beat. Ubered it back to our room and woke up at 4 am for our flight back. Smooth sailing and trip we will always remember.
My 77 yr old dad and I knocked off a bucket list item attending the US open this year. A few weeks before the tournament we snagged a good airfare from Dallas to New York round-trip to fly in Tuesday night and leave Thursday morning. We spent all day Wednesday watching day 2 of the quarterfinals. We both took up playing tennis at the same time back when I was 12 years old but neither of us had ever seen a pro tournament live.
Didn't know who would be playing the day we were going but figured there'd be some decent matches. I was really hoping to catch Fed play in case he calls it quits before I get a chance to see him. I bought some discounted tickets for lower promenade seats for the day session but had a hard time finding something for the night session.I finally found a guy on **** selling a pair of loge seats row A and was able to win that auction so we were all set. All we needed now was flights to run on time and more importantly good weather. At the airport I check stubhub just to see what courtside seats were going for and I saw a single one for the day session for $350 and figured I'll buy it and figure out a way for both of us to make it down there even if we have to alternate. It was in a good location and was situated on row E. I had been watching ticket prices for courtside seats and this is really the cheapest I came across all week .
We get to LaGuardia in smooth fashion and take a cab to the house where I rented a room in Jackson Heights that I found on Airbnb. We toss our bags and walk over to a nearby bar to catch some of the Novak match before heading back to go to sleep.
In the morning we grab a bagel breakfast sandwich and some coffee and walk over to the train station where we catch the 7 train over to Flushing. We end up getting to that Billy Jean King tennis center a bit early and hang out near the front gate. It's not swamped with people like it was over Labor Day which is nice and when they open the gate to get in quick. We head over to the practice court since the first match isn't going to be for another hour and my first pro sighting happened to be Flavia Penneta.
I didn't recognize her at first since her hair wasn't fully tied up like it usually is. She was hitting with her coach and they were jabbering away in Italian. 2 courts over was a tall blonde hitting service and I finally figured out that it was Petra Kvitova.
Again I didn't initially recognize her since she was dressed up and her hair done a little differently than she does during matches. The day session schedule look pretty good with Penetta vs Petra first up first followed by Halep vs Azarenka. The third match would be Wawrinka vs Kevin Anderson
We eventually enter Arthur Ashe Stadium after roaming around the ground, checking out some gorgeous Mercedes cars and waiting in line to get seat cushions from the Emirates Airline tent. I could easily see myself in this C63S.
Food and bev can get pricey here but they let you bring your own food which is smart if you're planning on making the most of your day
We went up to our seats I told my dad to hang out while I went down to check out the courtside seat I bought. There were not too many people in the stadium and when I got to my seat I waved up to him and he was able to come down and join me. View from our section was incredible and Petra got off to a good start winning the first set. Fortunately we were sitting in the shaded part of the court. It was a warm and very humid day. I don't think Petra was at full strength and as Flávia started to play more solidly you could see Petra running out of gas finally being felled in the third. I was rooting for her but Flavia obviously played great this entire two weeks
I was able to grab a seat behind baseline for third set to get these pics
What was most striking to me watching this caliber of tennis from our view was seeing the path of the ball as it leaves raquet and makes its way to other side of court. Many shots looked gravity defying as they would be laser straight and then suddenly bend downward. They hit some heavy shots. And their ability to hit an offensive shot when they are out of position stunned me. So impressed with how the women pros play. It's day and night different than on TV.
Petra match took longer to complete than usual for a women's match. Next up was Halep vs, Vika. Quality of play was better in this match and there were some stunning points. Vika made a nice comeback winning the second set and then we had a rain delay.
I couldn't understand why they don't have a tarp to pullover so that it would make the court ready quicker once the rain stopped. The delay was about an hour and when the rain stops the Zamboni looking machines came out and got the courts ready really fast.
For a smaller player Halep's serve really packs a punch
Dad and I were mesmerized watching these players from this close of a distance and we felt totally immersed in the matches, eg after a hard fought point that was followed by a fist pump there was a feeling of connection to that emotion that was much stronger than watching on TV. And the pace of shots on TV not as accurate as live. These ladies are crushing the ball. I left with newfound respect for the ladies of WTA.
Because of rain delay the Wawrinka-Anderson match got moved to Armstrong so that in case of more rain there would be ample Ike to have the night session matches. Right after Halep match we ran over to Armstrong but it was already packed with people.
I watched a few games and left at 7pm to get back into Ashe for night session. On the schedule was an exhibition match with McEnroe, Chang, Courier and someone else followed by Fed vs Gasquet. Due to rain they moved Fed match to start first. Despite having decent seats you can see the difference in vantage point.
Fed waved his Wilson wand around a few times and made short work of Gasquet. Even though my number 1 priority was to see Fed this scenario wasn't quite doing it for me. I left halfway through match Togo back to Warinka-Anderson match and got a good seat to catch the end of match. Stan looked sharp and Kevin didn't as he got bageled in 3rd set
After this I went back to Ashe to get my dad and we decided to pass on watching the exhibition doubles match and went to go buy some souvenirs. We got a US Open shirt for my daughter who was so jealous of us. Just outside Ashe we caught Fed giving a post match ESPN interview
To close out the night we caught some good doubles action. It was the mixed doubles semifinals. Paes/Hingis beat #2 seed Bopanna and partner. Hingis looks great for her age. Very fast paced action intros match.
We finally ate some dinner around 10pm and soaked in the day. My fitbit rang up 18,000 steps and we were beat. Ubered it back to our room and woke up at 4 am for our flight back. Smooth sailing and trip we will always remember.
