Well it has been years since I went to NYC for the US Open tennis championships so I decided that I could wait no more. I took my favorite mode of transportation from DC to NYC...Amtrak. It was a relaxing four hour ride to the city but I had forgotten how ridiculous Penn Station is to get out of during rush hour. I arrived just after 8 am on the city and hailed a cab to take me to my home for the weekend of Labor Day...the Waldorf Astoria.
When I had gone to NYC previously it was to spend it with a friend at her Manhattan Condo so this was a new thing for me to spend it in a hotel...I thought what better place than this icon.
It is still as beautiful as ever but it is that old style beautiful. I will say they need to remodel the rooms as it was obvious the age. It was in a great spot for everything I wanted to do on this trip so I couldn't complain.
After checking in (surprised they had a room for me at 9am) I was off to Flushing for the day session of tennis. Previous trips to the US open I had the benefit of transportation and tickets provided by a major modeling company so I didn't usually take the Metro. It was an experience to forget for the first of five days taking it...some dingbat decided to jump in front of a Manhattan destined 7 train and due to this the 7 train was shutdown between Times Square and a stop in Queens forcing all US open patrons to take a roundabout way to get to Flushing.
Eventually I arrived in Flushing for the tournament and what is not to say about the beauty of Flushing park and the USTA National Tennis center. That place is gorgeous. From the sites in the park
To the Arthur Ashe Center court within the center itself
It is a site to behold and absolutely a phenomenal place to watch a tennis tournament. The wonderful statue for Arthur Ashe further exemplifies the prestige of this place.
After watching tennis all day I went back to Manhattan for a night at the theatre. I had never seen Wicked on Broadway before and it didn't disappoint. The quality of acting and singing on Broadway at the musicals are a thing to behold and quite a treat if you are into the theatre scene. It is of course not a cheap ticket...my seats cost north of $200.
The rest of the weekend was spent at the US Open as I was able to snag tickets to every session for the holiday weekend.
I was able to watch many matches with the like of Anna Kournikova, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Ana Ivanovic, among others.
But of course a trip for me to the US Open wouldn't be right if it wasn't for the wonderful people with the USTA scheduling a Lleyton Hewitt match for night session on Ashe and it to go five sets...surprise,surprise...they did. I didn't get back to hotel that night until 2am.
Along with the matches themselves they have a great viewing area to watch players practice and many of them come to the fence to meet fans and sign items for them. Among the people who came by while I was by the fence were the aforementioned Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Rafa Nadal, Victoria Azarenka, and tennis great Bud Collins
A great thing about this years US open was to be able to see the comeback in doubles of Martina Hingis. It didn't last long as she was ousted in first round on same day in mixed doubles and womens doubles with Daniela Hantuchova. Of course in the latter match they had to play the number one seed in the tournament in the first round.
The US Open is an event of the lifetime to attend as a tennis or sports fan in general...but it isn't cheap. Tickets are only part of the problem in cost. The food is WAY pricy and boy if you don't keep track of what you are doing you can drop a ton on apparel. It is a fine place to also people watch as many a night session has MAJOR celebrities. Case in point on one night Josh Groban, Ashley Greene, Spike Lee, Ralph Macchio, and others were in box seats at Arthur Ashe.
I WILL be back in 2014 to this fine event in an even better location for hotel plus will be attending a few more broadway shows. On top of that I was there for a weekend in 2013 but will be there for ten days in 2014.
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