Hello! Yesterday was our annual pilgrimage to the US Open. And it was a wet and cool one. I wore pants! And if you have ever been there, you will know that you usually melt up there so to wear pants is just wrong. It wasn’t a complete wash out, so we got to enjoy all of the activities this year. We met up with a good friend and as she puts it, this is a tennis lovers Disney World.
Our first stop was to get our Amex radio. If you have an Amex card, there were a few perks you could get. But I’ll get into that later. And then we hit the vendor booths. Since it was raining, I was determined to fully participate in the US Open Fan Pass. If you down load the US Open app and register to get a code, you could get scans to enter you in drawings for prizes. And I got all 20! As we collected our scans, we could get our pictures taken with the Men’s and Women’s singles trophies, collect stuff, play games, get pictures with oversized racquets, in an umpire chair, or with those large Wilson balls, and even have a chat with IBM’s Watson. Watson even gave you a digital portrait. And we were there on USTA Fan Appreciation Day. If you are a USTA member, they gave you a pass to the US Open club and a $10 merchandise gift card. And that came in pretty handy since then it started to pour, so we headed over there.
We were seated right away and started with a little refreshment, Moet and a Grey Goose Honey Deuce – another souvenir cup for home! We had a perfect view of a TV with all of the action under the roof at Ashe stadium. The fish tacos were out of this world. So after we enjoyed a dry cozy lunch, we headed back out.
If you have an Amex card – I told you I’d come back to that – or a Chase card you can get access into cardholder lounges. The Chase lounge, you sign up for a time slot, and if they are filled, you can get on a waiting list. While we were sitting at lunch, we got the text that we were off the Chase wait list, and could come on over. The Chase lounge offered complimentary small snacks and soft drinks such as coffee/tea, juice and cucumber water. It was super sleek in there, I have a pic above. So I caffeinated up and we headed to the next attraction. The Amex lounge is more open to all. Anyone can come into the front part of the lounge with photo ops and games. They even have small courts for the kids to play tennis. And then if you have a card, you can go to the upstairs lounge. They had small snacks and beverages for purchase, but they had complimentary hand massages. Apparently my forearm muscles are tight – of course they are, I play tennis!
The sun started coming out so we did a little shopping and then watched some players on the warmup courts. We got to see one of my favs, Del Potro! And the doubles team Mirza and Peng, Indian Wells champion Elena Vesnia, and the Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
And then we finally got to see some tennis. The view from my seat on the Grandstand. We were watching the feisty Diego Schwartzman from Argentina take on the passionate Lucas Pouille from France. Diego won in 4. Nothing beats the sounds of live tennis, no announcers, no commercials, just in the moment tennis with other fans. You’re living the ups and downs, and the momentum of every point.
So with a full day done, and our train arriving soon, we had to go. When we leave each year it gives me the same feeling I got when as a kid we would have to leave the beach. Until next year…
Sue B Tennis Life 