What is it like to attend the U.S. Open tennis tournament?
It depends...If you do not have a stadium seat ticket for one of the two show courts, then it's kind of a festival of tennis...there are over 15 courts with matches going on, practices occurring, etc, and you just kinda wander through as you feel interest and watch as you wish. Protocol says you only enter or exit a seating area during a break (after odd games), and ushers will enforce that, but you're free to take any empty seat (at least on the courts with bleachers, not all of them have them) and just observe.During the first several rounds, that can be the best way to see medium to high ranking players (although the highest ranked players will usually end up on show courts).There are concessions on site, big screen tv's scattered around, a program of the expected day's order of play is available (and it's posted at various places as well). Due to the indeterminate length of a match, there aren't set in stone start times for any other than the first match of the day on a given court, the next match starts roughly 30 minutes after the last finishes. Matches can get moved between courts if one court ends up with an epically long match.Your ticket entitles you to as much as you can watch on that day. The "Session" generally runs from roughly 9AM until roughly 6-7PM. The only night matches occur on show courts, so you're not going to see Night Matches unless you have a show court ticket. If, on the other hand, you have a stadium seat ticket (much, much more expensive), then you have all of that above plus the right to enter and sit in a reserved seat and watch the action on your stadium court. You do not have to stay through the whole session (3 or 4 matches during the day session, 2 at a night session), you can enter and exit as you please.The Nighttime matches are a separate ticket from the day session. Generally the Day session matches run from about 11AM or noon until roughly 6PM...but that end time is very rough, the matches end...when they end...you are allowed to stay until the last match of the session concludes on your court. The Night session is scheduled to start at 7PM, but it will be delayed if the day session runs long (it happens at least once a year). The matches run until they are done, it can be 2AM or later.
What is the best way to experience the US tennis open? I don't mind spending some money but I don't want to spend crazy money.
Buy a seat on Louis Armstrong for this week. You will still get to see some of the bigger named players. Most are on the bigger courts but sometimes they get placed on Armstrong. Go during the day. Enjoy.
Why is a tennis stadium named after Lois Armstrong?
The 1964 world's fair was held at the current site of the BJK USTA National Tennis Center.There was a stadium called the Singer Bowl built for the fair. Slew Hester,who was the president of the USTA,decided to have a new facility constructed for the US Open on that land. The Singer Bowl was renovated,and expanded in 1977,into the stadium,and grandstand courts. The US Open was moved from Forrest Hills,a private club,to the new center in 1978. Why name it after Louis Armstrong? He lived in Corona,Queens,New York for many years,until his death in 1971.People in the area loved the man,and wanted to honor him.Simple as that. In 1997,The new Arthur Ashe Stadium was dedicated,and they have since modified the Armstrong stadium down to a smaller capacity. I don't know if there are any concert halls named after tennis players.What would they play there?Something very percussive perhaps.
U.S. Open (tennis): Is USTA chief executive Gordon Smith right when he says that technology doesn't exist now to cover Arthur Ashe stadium?
Yes he is. The stadium has a concrete frame and is built on "reclaimed" swampland. In order to have a roof, the entire structure would need to be leveled and a new one erected with lighter materials to support a roof. The technology is available, but it would be very costly and probably could not be done within a one year time frame. So where would the final for the next year be held?
How are ball boys/girls chosen for a tennis match?
I read an article recently which surmised the selection process. For Wimbledon about 1000 applications are received from south london alone, out of them 250 make the cut who are further made to go under rigorous Pysical Exercises. Some will be bases (Height required), Some will be centres (Speed foremost). All need to master the art of rolling (collecting balls) and feeding(supplying balls to players). Besides they are all subjected to all manners of possible scenarios which includes tolerating serves upto 110 mph or a player asking their opinion for a line call. The start and the end of match each have their own set of protocols. The selection process is purely based on physical merits with no discrimination of any kind (or so is claimed).There's almost as much action on the sides of the court as there is on court. They have to cater to odd situations like collecting pigeon feathers in one instance. All in all its a matter of pride and perfection to be able to watch federer,nadal and others play from the best position any stadium can provide.
What are some best practices or advice for someone attending the U.S. Open (tennis) for the first time?
A few things: It's very fun to get a grounds pass--you can go match-hopping on all the non-stadium courts and get a seat really close to the action. This is especially fun if you are familiar with the top 50 or so players. Last year Stan Wawrinka wasn't quite a star yet, and I was able to watch him play against Ivo Karlovic, almost courtside.Unless you can afford one of the better seats, watching a match in Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong is a bit overrated actually because you'd be so high up. Might be worth doing it once just for the experience, but for me, after watching a 5-setter from a nosebleed seat last year (Del Potro vs. Hewitt), I now realize it's better to watch it on TV.
Should I buy a grounds admission ticket for the US open or a reserved seat?
I'm assuming you are asking about the day sessions in the early rounds, since you need a reserved seat for the evening sessions, and grounds admission is only offered the first 8 days of the tournament.The answer to this question depends on who or what you're interested in seeing. The top or star players' matches will tend to be in either Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong stadiums. Note that in Arthur Ashe, unless you spend a lot of money to buy courtside or loge seating, you'll be high enough up that you may find yourself mostly watching the screen. If you want to save some money and aren't too concerned about seeing the top players, you can watch a lot of excellent tennis up close on the outer courts. This is particularly the case if you have players you'd want to watch outside of the Top 10, and if you're interested in doubles matches.Here is the U.S. Open's FAQ explanation of the different ticket options: Arthur Ashe Stadium - (Reserved Seating) - Provides an assigned seat in the main stadium along with first-come, first-served access to Louis Armstrong Stadium, the Grandstand and all of the field courts.Louis Armstrong Stadium (Reserved Seating) - Provides an assigned seat in the Loge level of Louis Armstrong Stadium, along with first-come, first-served access to the Grandstand and all of the field courts. Louis Armstrong tickets are only sold for the first nine days of the tournament.Grounds Admission (General Admission) - Provides first-come, first-served access to Louis Armstrong Stadium, the Grandstand and all of the field courts. Grounds Admissions are only sold for the first eight days of the tournament.http://usta.usopen.org/US-Open/t...
Tennis: How can I buy tickets to watch Federer's match at the US Open 2015?
I will be attending the tournament this year and am hoping to watch Fed play too. ;)Now that the tournament draws are out, you can figure out which sessions Roger Federer will be playing in, so long as he keeps winning. The draws are posted here: http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scor...Here is the tournament schedule (returning to a 14-day schedule this year): http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scor.../Federer is seeded #2 in the tournament and so is in the bottom half of the Men's Singles draw. Round 1 play occurs on Monday, Aug 31 with the top half of the draw. Round 1 for the bottom half of the draw occurs on Tuesday, Sept 1, and (assuming no rain delays -- the forecast looks good so far for that) the tournament will progress with each half of the draw playing on alternate days until the semi-finals. This means that, so long as he makes it through the tournament rounds, Federer should be playing on 9/1, 9/3, 9/5, 9/7, and 9/9. Federer's matches tend to be played on Arthur Ashe stadium, so those are the tickets you will want to get. The tricky part is that you can't be sure whether Federer is playing in the day session or the evening session any given day until schedule of play is posted the day before. So if you're trying to get tickets ahead of time you may want to get tickets for both day and evening sessions to be sure. That said, I believe it is highly likely that Federer will end up playing in evening sessions, particularly in later rounds. His popularity is no doubt why tournament organizers often have him playing in the night sessions. In last year's tournament, Federer played night sessions in Round 2, Round 4, and the Quarterfinals.