Last month Dave and I got to go to New York City with Grace and Claire for the US Open. And not only for that, but to have Claire show us around this place that she now considers “hers” in some way after dipping her toes into living there.
This was a long time in the making. I’ve talked before about how NYC has a special place in the heart of pretty much every single one of my Eyre family members. My dad served his mission there which I think must have been the “seed” for all the love. Then it trickled into all of us, especially my three brothers who have lived right there in Manhattan with their young families.
Years ago we took Max and Elle to the US Open on a special trip (back when they were in high school).
We always planned to take the next two when we could fit it in. As much as Lucy LOVES NYC (grown beloved because of a “bookends” NYC trip we took with Max when she was younger), she wouldn’t really want to touch this particular trip with a ten-foot pole.)
Anyway, the plan was to take the next two kids. Except we didn’t really make it fit in until last month. We had been dying to get there to visit Claire while she was doing her internship this summer, but couldn’t make it happen. Then I had this little idea: what if we make it happen over Labor Day and hit the US Open at the same time? Let me tell you, there were obstacles galore. But I felt such a pull to make it happen. A time in the lives of these girls when who knows when we’ll be able to make this happen again?
So we blazed a trail and made it happen.
Dave and I arrived a day earlier than the girls and got to get our bearings straight at the Open.
How We Maneuvered the US Open
Oh there is so much excitement at a tournament like this.
And also so many people!
We arrived in NYC late one night and maneuvered our way to the train to get to Flushing Meadows.
Some new friends we met at the hotel guided us there (it felt like the whole hotel was riding a wave to transport themselves to unfold into the US Open). That picture on the right above can’t really do justice to how many people were migrating over to that tournament from the train. The infrastructure to put on something like this is pretty incredible.
I was beaming with excitement, looking at Dave with wide-eyes, we get to do this! Which cancelled out the fact that it felt like a sauna so muggy from the rain and steaming hot. Ha! It felt like we were kids in a candy shop to be there, trying to be calm enough not to ping to all the different matches and focus on one at a time.
There are three (well, actually four) main stadiums at the US Open.
- Arthur Ashe is the biggest
- then Louis Armstrong
- The third is The Grandstand.
- And I think I’d count Court 17 in that whole “big stadium” thing because lots of pretty big names played there and drew a huge crowd.
There are a few different options for tickets. You can get just grounds passes that let you in and also give you access to buy all the super-pricey food (ha!). You can also get tickets for seats in Arthur Ashe, Louis Armstrong or the Grandstand. When you hold one of those babies you can not only get into your seat in the stadium you bought it, you can go to the “upper bowls” of the other stadiums as well, and sit wherever you want.
My dad and mom go here every year (have I mentioned my dad goes hog-wild over tennis, and plays in all the senior tournaments he can get his hands on?). Tennis things like this always lure him in. So those “experts-at-watching-tennis” showed us the ropes and told us to get Arthur Ashe tickets since that’s the biggest one. Then we could meander around to all the others.
One of the reasons Dave and I wanted to get there early was because that was the last day my parents were there so we got to overlap with them.
Love them so much!
But we didn’t really go with them. Because keeping track of my dad at stuff like this is like herding a cat. Plus we all wanted to see different matches. So we texted each other if there was a really good one.
We went from watching Osaka in Arthur Ashe:
(Sooo cool to be so close…since these were early matches with lots of seats empty we could go down and pretty much sit anywhere which gave us all kinds of stars in our eyes.)
We were with my parents to watch Khachanov in Louis Armstrong:
We watched lots of matches in the outlying courts, catching some pretty incredible rallies.
Just so fun to see the action from so many different vantage points on so many different courts. With humanity from all over the world rubbing shoulder-to-shoulder, amazed at the action and incredible talent unfolding before your eyes.
We got to see Osaka, Fritz, Potapova, Struff, Zheng and Swiatek among others.
Taylor Fritz was my favorite (he became so at Indian Wells since we had watched Break Point all about him before we got there).
And we got to be so close!!
We helped finagle my nephew and his wife to come sit with us (they were there too, visiting her family). Love them!
The US Open App
Another thing to note about the US Open (or any tournament like this) is that the app is SO AWESOME!
It tells you all about the players, which matches are on deck, who’s playing where and even what percentage chances everyone has to win. It was fun to watch Zheng’s match, especially since she ended up doing so well.
Dave and I stayed until the blasting sun sunk behind the horizon and our legs were going to fall off. The night matches were fun.
We watched Gauff and Zverev’s night matches on the big screen outside Arthur Ashe.
Plus get a famous Salt Hank’s french dip sandwich Dave had read about online. It lived up to the hype for sure.
Then we headed back to the hotel to revamp before our girls arrived on the redeye at 5:08am, another day of tennis awaiting with those girls whose delight is spreading through our texts like wildfire.
When Grace and Claire Joined Us at the US Open
I loved sharing all that awesomeness with those excited girls of ours, wide-eyed with amazement like we were the day before (and still were on the second day).
There’s something about the ambiance of being at an event like that that’s so electric.
This day was much more concentrated in the main stadiums so we hardly went to the outer courts.
Instead we pinged back and forth amidst the big ones on that very hot day with our girls.
I have to tell you, we hit the jackpot on matches this day! You never know when you buy the tickets who will play which days. How the schedule will go with rain delays, who wins, etc. And we really lucked out. I’ll tell you about it, but first, let’s look back when Max and Elle were there doing that same rigamarole with us:
And the girls:
Ok, there we go.
Sabalenka Match
It was pretty surreal to see Sabalenka from way up above:
Claire on the big screen (!!)
Ok, maybe this was the highlight or most memorable thing that happened.
You see, Claire is a magnet for jumbotrons. There’s something in the way she exudes excitement I guess. But sure enough, that camera found her during the Pegula/Fernandez match.
And it wasn’t just that they found her, they found the four of us at first, but zoomed in on her. And not just for a second. It was SO LONG! Long enough that Grace could pull out her phone and capture the last part of it. Ha! There was a moment you could tell she was thinking that thing would just move on, and then it just kept rolling. So she hammed it up and kept on dancing. Here are some out-takes:
It was pretty funny. And also funny that like three different total strangers came up and told her she did a good job. And she “understood the assignment.” HA!
Tommy Paul Match (and a Paige Paul sighting:)
This one was so funny because my girls were super excited to see Tommy Paul.
But then I realized their excitement was actually about how cool his wife (Paige Paul) is:) I didn’t know she was a famous influencer, but I do now!
What was even more interesting is that just as they were telling me about her on the escalator, Claire spotted her! And snapped a photo:
They also spotted her in the audience, can you spot her too?
This match was one for the books that came out with a Paul win:
Alcaraz Match
My personal favorite? Alcaraz up close and personal. Man those guys hit that ball so hard!
I was sure he was going to win the whole thing, dang that Ben Shelton who knocked him out! (Ha! I love Ben too.)
All the matches were awesome but my favorite parts were following these people I love around:
The Night Matches
I loved when the sun went down and things started to cool off. And the good tennis continued.
Tiafoe’s Match
We got to watch Tiafoe take a win too. And he was so gracious to the audience and to the guy he beat. Love that guy!
We got to watch part of that match with our really good college friends who happened to be there that day too.
Ben Shelton and the Williams Sisters on the big screen: big energy!!
We watched Ben Shelton and the Williams sisters matches from the big screen outside Arthur Ashe that night.
There was so much energy in that courtyard which was hard to leave, but we were nervous about crowds so we made our way out.
…listening on our little US Open radios for as long as the signal lasted.
An unexpected memorable ending on the subway
But leaving ended up being my favorite part. Because the Mets game happened to wrap up as we were leaving so there we were, and there was this huge jumble of humanity squished into the subway.
Oh the crowds aren’t my favorite, but there was something about standing there shoulder to shoulder, Dave holding up his phone for us to watch the end of the Williams sisters match that was so memorable. Everyone else was literally squished into our armpits watching too.
Those sisters lost, but it was sure a memorable night.
What We Learned About Attending the US Open
- Get Arthur Ashe tickets. They give you access to the upper bowls of ALL the stadiums, not just Arthur Ashe. If you’re going to the Open anyway, these tickets are so worth it!
- Download the US Open app before you go. It shows live scores, win probabilities, and schedules for every match happening simultaneously. You can follow your favorite players and even know which players are warming up on the practice courts. So helpful in navication!
- Arrive early. The outer courts in early rounds give you incredible access and you can get remarkably close to players warming up. Look up the times for each day, but know that the gates open before the time on your tickets.
- Dress for heat. Early September in New York is so dang hot and muggy (at least it was this year!). Wear light clothing, comfortable walking shoes, and bring sunscreen and sunglasses.
- The food. The French dip sandwich is so good (who knows if it will still be there next year but hopefully!). There is something called the Honey Deuce cocktail that is famous with two melon balls on the top. We’re not drinkers but people sure seemed to love those. The food is super expensive so be prepared, and maybe bring in some snacks if you can finagle that!
- Night session tickets are separate. If you want to watch the big night matches inside Arthur Ashe you’ll need separate night session tickets. That’s why we watched from outside both nights. But we didn’t realize that you can actually go to the upper bowls of the Louis Armstrong stadium as well as the Grandstand. That’s how we got to see Tiafoe.
- Take the 7 train from Manhattan. It takes about 45 minutes from Times Square to Flushing Meadows. We stayed in Queens becasue we thought it would be faster, but I think it’s just as fast from right in the city. It’s so easy and it lets you out right at that walking entrance to get into the open.
- Have a rain delay plan. Matches get moved around and delayed. The app helps you pivot to whatever is happening nearby, but be sure to check the weather so you can be prepared.
On to the big city recap after the US Open…coming soon!