FREE US OPEN TENNIS Aug 20-23 New York’s Top Freebie: In case you didn’t know, and have time to take a break, get out to the US Open qualifying matches where the titans practice and future racket royalty is watchable in front of your nose or lens as you wander from court to court with those in the know about this great week of free top tennis, this time in perfect weather throughout!Power drive - Women's tennis today is not short of muscle: Live or TV? This week is the only good time to visit the US Open live. Not only is it free but you can actually see the best players close up practicing and the qualifiers struggling to make the opening round on the surrounding courts, which is a lot more interesting than watching them live at the bigger stadia, especially the cavernous Arthur Ashe, where watching a tennis match is like watching it in a dream, since the shots are whisper quiet even at court side, because the sound is muffled and absorbed by the distant seats ascending skywards. Compared with watching it on TV, about 1/5 of the excitement - a surreal and distant movie without a soundtrack, compared with an explosive upfront closeup gladiatorial wham bang confrontation complete with facial agonistes on the TV screen, especially on a 50in HD screen where one can actually see the ball, after years when it was mostly invisible on cathode ray tubes, beautiful though they were, at least in the Sony KV series. US Open Website US OPEN Web Site For Couch Potatoes: TV schedule: TV schedule (CBS and ESPN and Tennis Channel) Daily Schedule DAILY SCHEDULE Directions: How To Get There Take the 7 Local from 42nd St Grand Central or Times Square: Subway: The 7 train provides easy service from Grand Central Terminal to Mets-Willets Point Station, the last or nearly the last before Flushing at the end of the 7 line, including connections for all Metro-North Trains from Westchester and Connecticut. Service is also available from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, by which they presumably mean Times Square. Also using LIRR at Penn Station at 34h St and 8th/9th according to a Web post: If you don't want to take the subway, you can also take the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) from Penn Station (8 blocks south of Times Square). The LIRR is a commuter rail train, about twice as expensive as the subway, but very comfy (cushioned seats) and the tennis stadium is only two stops (so it's quicker, less (sic, properly fewer) stops, etc). The stadium is also pretty much right next to the LIRR station, whereas the subway stop is only "close by"--about a 3-4 minute walk. What You Can't Bring: WHAT NOT TO BRING ONLY LIMITED QUANTITY FOOD, PLASTIC BOTTLES ONLY, ONE BAG, NO VIDEO CAMERAS, NO LAPTOPS, NO PENKNIVES, NO ALCOHOL. US OPEN SECURITY PROCEDURES Safety ((and the revenue of our over priced shops, food stalls and restaurants)) is one of our highest priorities at the US Open, and we will continue to take every reasonable step to ensure the safety of everyone entering the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center gates. We will once again be implementing several important security measures in conjunction with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies: 1. We encourage you to arrive early to avoid delays and help speed the entry of all spectators. 10 am opening day sessions and 6pm for evening sessions. 2. All fans will go through a screening process before passing through the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center entry gates. 3. There will be a limit of one bag per person admitted onto the grounds. 4. All bags are subject to search and cannot be larger than 12"W x 12"H x 16"L. 5. There will be no bag storage on the grounds. For a nominal charge, there is a bag storage facility outside the grounds. 6. Speed lines for those fans without bags will be available at all gates. 7. The following items are prohibited and MAY NOT be brought onto the premises: (In reality: They don't check very hard. ) Backpacks Hard coolers or like containers Sealed packages of any kind Bottles or cans (glass or metal) WATER etc ONLY IN PLASTIC Aerosol cans or noisemaking devices Alcohol Video cameras or recording devices Computers or laptops Food (except in limited quantities, or for medical, dietary or infant purposes) Weapons Animals (unless a service animal) Flags, banners or signs Any materials constituting unauthorized advertising or promotion Laser pointing devices Tennis racquets Any other items deemed inappropriate or dangerous by the US Open personnel, in their sole discretion Grounds map Map =========================================================== US OPEN SECURITY PROCEDURES Safety ((and the revenue of our over priced shops, food stalls and restaurants)) is one of our highest priorities at the US Open, and we will continue to take every reasonable step to ensure the safety of everyone entering the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center gates. We will once again be implementing several important security measures in conjunction with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies: 1. We encourage you to arrive early to avoid delays and help speed the entry of all spectators. 10 am opening day sessions and 6pm for evening sessions. 2. All fans will go through a screening process before passing through the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center entry gates. 3. There will be a limit of one bag per person admitted onto the grounds. 4. All bags are subject to search and cannot be larger than 12"W x 12"H x 16"L. 5. There will be no bag storage on the grounds. For a nominal charge, there is a bag storage facility outside the grounds. 6. Speed lines for those fans without bags will be available at all gates. 7. The following items are prohibited and MAY NOT be brought onto the premises: Backpacks Hard coolers or like containers Sealed packages of any kind Bottles or cans (glass or metal) WATER etc ONLY IN PLASTIC Aerosol cans or noisemaking devices Alcohol Video cameras or recording devices Computers or laptops Food (except in limited quantities, or for medical, dietary or infant purposes) Weapons Animals (unless a service animal) Flags, banners or signs Any materials constituting unauthorized advertising or promotion Laser pointing devices Tennis racquets Any other items deemed inappropriate or dangerous by the US Open personnel, in their sole discretion Grounds map Map =============================================================================== How it turned out Part II Returned on Friday which promised to be a fine day after a few rain patches on Thursday, and met up with a distinguished female member of the media, who made up for the repetitive nature of the tennis strokes on show by talking non stop at the same time as we were talking on stop. The high point was finding Isner, the up and coming champion who has the advantage/disadvantage of being reportedly six foot ten inches, playing in the second part of the Louis Armstrong stadium, thanks to a tip off from the genial female we sat next to in the first part. The E500 with a 80-300 mm equivalent lens seemed prima facie fairly useless, judging from the not very clear screen on the back, and quite unable to take wide shots, but surprisingly proved rather good at taking shots of service and play, showing how very odd the process actually is - players bend themselves into pretzels as they serve, assuming shapes that one would think impossible unless they were double jointed. Once again it was pleasant (and priced right) to sit around in the half empty blue seated stands on a perfect day with the very healthy tennis set young and old and watch extremely healthy and muscular top tennis players trade practice shots or struggle for the remaining slots in the tournament proper. It had the same relaxing effect as watching construction workers busy on a site while one idly watches and eats lunch, with the difference here that one is watching fine scantily clad physical specimens in fast action doing something immediate and intelligible. At th end of the day, a moment of visible emotion: one unfortunate American player, a fairly sturdily built young black female, left the court in tears having lost a match to a blonde and equally sturdy South African player who won the first set 6-2. The American reversed the score in the second set to 6-2 in her favor and must have thought the dream was within sight, but Alas the South African made a comeback and won the third 6-3. At the end a young actor in training from Chicago produced a GoPro for us to examine, and a short lady got into conversation with my independent minded companion about her marriage of thirty years to an unsuitable man, and said she wished she (companion) had been around to advise her better before she hit the altar.