Jaffe

Game, Set, Match

Went to the US Open this past Wednesday. It was my first non-Wimbledon tennis experience, and after making it down to SW19 for each of the last 5 summers, the differences between the two tournaments were striking.

1) Getting tickets
US Open tickets are available through ticketmaster, and the showcourts are so big that it's no problem to get seats. To get tickets for Wimbledon, you have to go on the day and queue (wait in line). Nice on a sunny day, but it's London so you never know... For a show court, you can camp overnight, enter a lottery, or hope that people leave early (the tickets are resold for £5 and the money goes to charity).

2) Start of play
I don't remember anything particular about the start of play at Wimbledon... maybe an announcement to turn off your cell phone. The US Open began with the National Anthem. Nothing unusual for an American sporting event, but strange to my British friends.

3) Changeovers
The only time I went to a Wimbledon match with eventful changeovers was the first professional tennis match I ever saw - the 2001 final between Pat Rafter and Goran Ivanisevic. That year the final was played on the Monday after what was supposed to be the final Sunday, and they sold 10,000 tickets first come, first serve. Since there are no shortage of Aussies in London (and apparently a lot of Croats as well), there was plenty of 'Waltzing Matilda' sung during the changeovers. Normally, however, Wimbledon changeovers are spent chatting quietly with your neighbor and having a sip of Pimms. At the US Open, there was music at every changeover, with people doing anything they could to get on the monitor overlooking Arthur Ashe stadium (nothing illegal, of course). Every few changeovers there was a random prize awarded to someone in the crowd.

4) Crowd behavior
At Wimbledon, when someone's phone rings, people give them the evil eye and they turn it off. At the US Open, it seemed completely normal for people to answer their phone and have a conversation. Admittedly it peoples' voices didn't carry as much at Arthur Ashe stadium, but taking a phone call at a tennis match is a bit much. People at the US Open (particularly the chair umpire) also didn't seem to mind the fans yelling things to the players (during the Haas v. Safin match one fan was yelling so much that at one point he yelled 'C'mon Tommy, I'm losing my voice!').

5) Food
Wimbledon - strawberries and cream; Pimms.
US Open - foot long sausage; Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

6) Style of play
The beautifully-manicured grass at Wimbledon is something special, but the tennis (particularly mens tennis) can be a bit boring. The rallies in some matches are virtually non-existent, and the balls can take some pretty strange bounces. A couple of years ago, Marat Safin (former world #1) even said that he was giving up on Wimbledon. The style of play on the hard courts at the US Open was a nice mix of power and skill. Everyone can relate to hitting a tennis ball on a hard court (although the courts on the north side of Chicago don't look anything like the ones at the US Open), and having longer rallies is always more interesting than a match full of aces.

7) Post-match antics
When a match is over at Wimbledon, the players acknowledge the royals (on the show courts) and leave to a warm round of applause. At the US Open (at Arthur Ashe stadium, at least), the winning player is interviewed on court immediately following the match, and then autographs 3 balls, which he/she hits into the stands.

posted by Aron @ 10:28 AM