Last week I had the good fortune of seeing the qualifying rounds of the US Open 2009 at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. I highly recommend everyone try to make it next year. Even though these players have not made it into the round of main draw (128 players!) they are still very good and they still put all their soul into their match. It’s fun to see what country one tennis player is playing for and who they are versing. Some matches will go by quickly and some will be so dramatic, with the players throwing their racquet, yelling out in frustration and pumping up the crowd with a great shot.
US Open Tennis Qualifying Rounds Player
US Open Tennis Qualifying Rounds Information
It can be confusing to know the exact details of the US Open Tennis qualifying rounds, so here is the information I gathered.
Dates: Tuesday through Friday. the week before the actual main draw opens. For 2009 it was from August 25 to August 28th.
Times: Not sure of start time, guessing 11am about.
Gates close at 6pm, but matches go until almost 8pm
Bag Check: They are very strict about the types of bags you can bring in. A hand or arm purse that is a reasonable size should be ok. A backpack is NOT allowed. If you have a big backpack you will have to check it in for $5.
It’s odd because a purse that is the same size as my backpack would be fine, but because it has straps like a backpack it is not allowed in.
Dress Code: You can generally wear whatever you want as long as you are dressed appropriately I would guess. So NO you don’t need to wear all white.
Benefits of the qualifying round:
- FREE
- Front row seating if you want
- Less crowded
- Easy parking
- Get your significant other or friends into tennis! Even if they don’t play tennis it’s a great time.
For more information go to:
http://www.tennis.com/tournaments/2008/usopen/usopen.aspx?id=142332
Hope to see you there next year!