A day at the Open: Bring the wallet, leave the phone
by Brian Webber, Special to FOXSports.com
2008 U.S. Open
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Results:
- | Murray wins
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- | Men | |
- | Women | |
- | Men | | Men
- Day 4: Ivanovic ousted | 3: Men | Women
- Day 2: Men | Women | |
Analysis:
- Cronin: Federer's back in the mix
- Pierce: One thing missing for Federer
- Cronin: Serena's hard work pays off
Others:
- PHOTOS: Men's final | Women's final | Day 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1
- PHOTOS: U.S. Open fashion
- Singles draws: Men's | Women's
- Results: Men Women | Ranks | Schedule
Partners:
I've been fortunate to cover the Super Bowl, World Series, and Final Four but working at the U.S. Open has always held personal significance. Growing up in the suburbs of New York City in a tennis-playing family, attending matches at the Open was a summer highlight of my youth dating back to the Forest Hills era. I still have my ticket stub from the 1983 U.S. Open when my father and I happened to be at Flushing Meadows the day Bill Scanlon stunned John McEnroe.
But while I've been lucky to have covered the Open for Tennis Channel in recent years, I haven't actually attended matches as a fan since 2003. I decided to change that this year and see how the experience of sitting in the stands at the USTA Billie Jean King National Center compares to enjoying a media-credentialed seat.
Take The Seven Train ... Or The LIRR
My goal was the try to replicate the fan experience of years gone by. I suggested to my father that we meet in midtown Manhattan and take the subway to the Open as we did when I was a teenager, but he was less nostalgic than I and told me to meet him at Penn Station so we could enjoy the superior air conditioning offered on the train cars of the Long Island Rail Road that also make stops at the Open.
My old man made the right choice. It was amazing to see a New York commuter line transformed into a virtual tennis train. Not only were many of the fans wearing their complete Fila and adidas outfits, a few passengers had tennis racquets in their hands. Perhaps they hoped that one of the competitors would be unable to play and they would be asked to take the court. We started chatting with a couple in the seats across from us and had a lively conversation about whether Roger Federer would be able to regain his No. 1 ranking in the coming months. While tennis has clearly lost some of its appeal to casual sports fans in recent years, the atmosphere on this train made it seem like 1988 again.
Week One Is The Way To Go
Since we typically got tickets through my father's business associates when I was growing up, we tended to get the seats that his boss didn't want. That meant a lot of Wednesdays and Thursdays during the first week of the Open. I was accustomed to seeing many second-round matches between players like Jimmy Arias and a qualifier from Paraguay. However, there was always great action on the outer courts, so most of the day was spent roaming the grounds in search of the best matches.
This year I thought I would try to impress my dad by delivering tickets to the men's quarterfinals. While we were thrilled to have the opportunity to see Federer in person, I had overlooked the fact that the second-week U.S. Open schedule creates a very different fan experience. There were no matches scheduled at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The outer courts featured boys and girls junior matches. The first match at Arthur Ashe stadium featured women's doubles and a lifeless crowd. If you're planning a future trip to the U.S. Open, Week One offers more match possibilities and a different level of energy at Flushing Meadows than the second week of competition.
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| Brian Webber got a first-hand look at Roger Federer's win over Gilles Muller. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / Getty Images) |
Eat Before The Open Or Pay Dearly
We made a major "rookie mistake" that should not have been committed by a pair of U.S. Open veterans. In the old days, my father would insist that we bring a bag lunch and eat on a park bench before we entered the event because he refused to pay the steep food prices at the Open. Perhaps he is mellowing in his old age or just forgot the financial challenge that lied ahead, but we decided to have lunch on the grounds.
If you've been to any sporting event recently, you know it's not cheap to eat. The U.S. Open takes those prices to a Grand Slam level. A 22-ounce soda cost $7.50. So if you bring your appetite to the matches, you better also bring a lot of cash or be willing to dip into your kid's college fund to finance your meals.
Fan Etiquette — Only In New York
By the time we took our seats, the second match at Ashe Stadium was underway. The mixed doubles final featured Liezel Huber and Jamie Murray against the team of Cara Black and Leander Paes. It was a hot and humid afternoon and the crowd seemed eager for the match to be completed so Federer could take the court. We had loge level seats and sat behind what appeared to be a businessman playing hooky who was pecking away at his Blackberry throughout the match. At one point in the middle of a rally, Mister Wall Street made a phone call to make his dinner reservations. While we were fairly close to court level, it was distracting to hear how many audible conversations we're happening between people who were not whispering. New Yorkers like to express themselves even when a match is going on.
Thankfully, that atmosphere changed dramatically when Federer and Gilles Muller started their quarterfinal match. The stands filled up and a portion of the fans started pulling for the qualifier from Luxembourg. I had forgotten just how loud 15,000 people can get after a tremendous rally. Nevertheless, Federer was the decided crowd favorite. Even as the Swiss star played an uneven first set with some loose errors, he seemed buoyed by the cheers and cries of "C'Mon Roger."
While New York tennis fans may have a different code of etiquette, they may be the most passionate in the sport. Federer advanced to his 18th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final. And as I joined the crowd filing out of Ashe Stadium, I was happy to have enjoyed another day at the Open.
Emmy Award winning broadcaster Brian Webber is the lead studio host of FoxSports.Com's video content. Webber has served as a play-by-play broadcaster and studio host for Tennis Channel since 2003.
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