As July fades into August, tennis fans around the world rejoice for the final grand slam tournament of the year will soon commence in the Big Apple – well, almost every fan. One would think I’d be elated having the US Open contested in my backyard since 1915. First, at the magnificent, manicured lawns of the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY and then on the scorching hot and quick deco turf courts of the BJK National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, NY.
My family’s annual pilgrimage to the West Side Tennis Club wed excited anticipation with nostalgia. We relished the opportunity to walk the grounds alongside the likes of a young, unencumbered Bjorn Borg and steely focused Chris Evert making their way from the clubhouse to center court. There were years my father couldn’t give away tickets while others saw ever increasing long lines both at the restrooms and concession stands.
Undeniably, the grounds were too small – not the stadium! For many, the move to Flushing Meadows in 1978 was inevitable. The sport was growing in popularity due to the intense and entertaining rivalries that defined the 70’s and 80’s. The Louis Armstrong Stadium, as it was originally conceived, was fantastic. It boasted a seating capacity of 18,000 (Center Court Wimbledon since 1922, seats 15,000) and was attached to the smaller, even more inviting Grandstand Court which could accommodate 6,000 energized fans.
One could easily walk back and forth between them catching glimpses of two fantastic matches or perhaps camping out indefinitely at one while hearing the roar of the crowd in the other. It truly was paradise for the passionate, insatiable tennis fan. Only one ticket was required to access Armstrong, the Grandstand and the 20+ field courts.
Regrettably, in 1997 a new, but not improved, Arthur Ashe stadium was erected seating an absurd 22,000+ a super-majority of whom could not clearly see the player’s faces let alone the ball. Indisputably, this stadium was not constructed for the betterment of fans; it was erected to maximize profits. The USTA initially did the fans a favor by removing the top tier of seats in Armstrong rendering it even more intimate than originally designed but that too was about to change.
Predictably, the USTA devised additional means to maximize profits at the fans expense: a majority of seats in Armstrong now require a ticket, separate from that which grants access to Arthur Ashe Stadium, night sessions in AA were instituted also requiring a separate ticket and the disastrous grounds pass. The advent of the grounds pass precipitated the unwavering, negative perception of the USTA in the eyes of tennis devotees worldwide; profit trumps the fan experience.
Historically, a ticket purchased for the main stadium also entitled one to watch matches in Armstrong, the Grandstand and show courts. Unfortunately, with the issuance of grounds passes, those seats now are occupied primarily by those that did not spend top dollar for a ticket in the vertiginous Arthur Ashe Stadium. Fans can no longer move freely around the grounds confident they will be able to watch tennis in the smaller, more fan-friendly stadiums and show courts. Consequently, the die-hard fan is summarily duped twice; can’t see the ball in AA Stadium and cannot find a seat in the other two!
On any given day, there are over 30,000 people crammed into the grounds of the BJK National Tennis Center waiting an inexplicably long time for over-priced food and restrooms and unable to enjoy the very thing they came for – tennis! The USTA would benefit greatly from a meticulous examination of the policies enacted by the All England Club which has refused to build a larger center court stadium at the expense of the fan and player experience.
Increasingly, tennis purists have chosen to opt-out of this non-fan friendly fiasco and instead, tune in on their mobile devices or HDTV. Ruefully, this life-long devotee of this incredible sport remains at home longing for the dog-days of summer in the dwindling sun-light at the extraordinary West Side Tennis Club where not just players – but fans were revered.
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