There was ample street parking at the U.S. Open, only spitting distance from the courts. Admission was free to see some of the best tennis players in the world. There were plentiful seats and it was easy to move about the grounds, which are tucked into a park in the heart of — the Bronx?
Yes, the U.S. Open is in the Bronx, too.
Each day during the U.S. Open, tens of thousands of fans pay high prices to cram into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens. But a small part of the tournament is also staged 10 miles away in a bucolic section of the Bronx, where the junior qualifying event is held at the gleaming Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in Crotona Park.
Alex Olmo, who lives nearby on 172nd Street, was walking his dog, Joey, through the park on Thursday when he stumbled upon two players crushing tennis balls back and forth. It was noticeably different from the practice sessions he normally sees there.
“Whoa,” he exclaimed, “they are really playing.”
The event is scheduled for only two days each year, when 64 junior players compete for 16 coveted spots, eight each for boys and girls, in the U.S. Open main singles draws. But during that time, fans can watch up close for free, without having to wait in line for a seat or pay hefty prices for a grounds pass, though there is no place to get a Honey Deuce cocktail.
Desmond Antubam, a tennis fan from Harlem, went to the U.S. Open in Flushing on Wednesday and the next day took a cab to the Bronx to watch more tennis, this time for free. He was one of the few fans there on Thursday afternoon.
“This is where you get to see the young players before they become stars,” Mr. Antubam said. “It’s one of the biggest tournaments in the world, and it’s right in the Bronx.”
Most of the people milling about the grounds in the Bronx were either players, their parents or their coaches. There was also a noticeable contingent of college coaches looking to recruit young players to their schools.
A walkway that lines the courts offers easy sight lines to seven matches below against a backdrop of Crotona Park’s lush greenery. The sounds of balls on rackets and players grunting mix with the familiar urban acoustics of sirens and ice cream truck jingles.
With two wins in the Bronx, players then move on to Flushing, where they play on the same courts as the top professionals, and the Bronx courts are handed back to their full-time operator. The rest of the year, the Cary Leeds Center is the home of New York Junior Tennis and Learning, part of a national program started in 1971 by Arthur Ashe, the tennis champion, and Charlie Pasarell, another former player and tennis executive.
N.Y.J.T.L.’s mission is to provide free tennis and educational programs to underprivileged families. The Cary Leeds Center is one of the crown jewels of the network and was recently one of 10 similar programs chosen to receive a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Tennis Association Foundation to help increase community outreach and revitalize courts in other parts of New York.
The center’s curriculum is generally free and held after school hours, with tutoring and homework sessions followed by on-court instruction.
For a couple of days each year, however, the center becomes an extension of the largest tennis tournament in the world.
“There are very few places like this, where you can come right up and see high-level tennis like this, right in the middle of Crotona Park,” said Steve O’Keefe, the center’s general manager.
Years ago, the women’s professional tour held a tournament at the same site in the days leading up to the U.S. Open, but that event moved.
On Thursday, a couple from Livingston, N.J., watched as their daughter, Isabelle Thi DeLuccia, won the first of two matches she needed to get to the bigger stage in Queens.
But Ms. Thi DeLuccia, a high school junior, lost on Friday. All the winners and their families were headed to Queens to play on, and maybe even celebrate with a Honey Deuce.
David Waldstein is a Times reporter who writes about the New York region, with an emphasis on sports.
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