Even if you’re one of the 700,000-plus who have purchased or is purchasing a ticket to the various matches at the U.S. Open that began Monday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center across from City Field, where the New York Mets play in Flushing, Queens, you can still appreciate the events taking place there this week that the United States Tennis Association is presenting.
It’s Fan Week and free events are open to the public. One of the most important events is the U.S. Open Qualifying Tournament, which features players ranked in the Top 250 in the world on the courts competing to qualify. This event continues through today (Thursday) and tomorrow.
Also on the schedule this week will be the practices of the tennis world’s greatest players who’re participating in this year’s Open. Last year’s winners, Rafael Nadal and Sloan Stephens, will be there, along with Venus and Serena Williams, Madison Keys, Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Big stars on the practice courts are scheduled through Sunday.
Tomorrow (Friday), there will be matches with former U.S. Open champions Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova, along with Michael Chang and Jan Michael-Gambill. Sunday, four U.S. Open winners—Davenport, Navratilova, Tracy Austin and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario—will face off in the Grandstand stadium.
Saturday, the annual festival of tennis, music and fun honoring the legacy of tennis great Arthur Ashe will be held on the King Center tennis grounds. There will be entertainment all morning and a ticketed stadium show in the afternoon.
Sunday, top-ranked doubles teams will take to the court to give aspiring tennis players from the tristate area tips and advice on how to improve their games.
There will also be a variety of other events taking place until Sunday evening.