Beginner’s Guide to the U.S. Open
It’s one of the world’s premier sporting events: the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, held in Flushing Meadows, Queens, and it’s as prestigious as they come. Need to bone up on knowledge about the U.S. Open so you sound like you know what you’re talking about? Here’s the essential information.
The U.S. Open is a two week tournament. It’s held each August and September at the USTA National Tennis Center. This year’s tournament dates are August 31 to September 13.
Nomrally, general public tickets go on sale in early June
Here’s a rundown of how the tournament itself goes down. Players compete in women’s singles, men’s singles, women’s doubles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The action is carried live by networks such as CBS and USA Network as wel as several international broadcasters. The matches take place both day and night, with the day games starting at 11 a.m. and the night games starting at 7 p.m.
The games are held at several venues at the USTA National Tennis Center. The top seeded matches as well as the finals are held at the U.S.Open Arthur Ashe Stadium.
One of the smaller venues is the Grandstand, which is open to anybody who has a grounds pass.
If you want to really get close to the action, field courts are the way to do so. Especially in the tournament’s oening few days, they are the best places to watch the sport.
By the way, as you’re investigating the goings-on at the U.S. Open, don’t neglect the qualifying tournament, which has its own kind of excitement, and is normally held a week before the main tournament itself.
A relatively cheap way to see the tournament is through the grounds pass or grounds admission. It’s only available, however, for the tournament’s first eight days. It offers access to those matches played in the field courts, parts of the Louis Armstrong Stadium, as well as the Grandstand. This can often mean a good five or more matches–perfect for the avid tennis fan. However, grounds admission doesn’t give admission to Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The schedule for the 2009 tournament goes like this: August 25 to 28 is the Qualifying Tournament; August 29 is Kids’ Day; August 30 is Open Practice Day; August 31 to September 13 is the main tournament; September 13 is the men’s championships; September 12 is the women’s championships.
So now you know what you need to know to be a U.S. Open expert.