Long lines of limousines stretching out at the V.I.P. entrance. A-list celebrities in luxury boxes flashing on the giant video screens to fans who pay $4,000 for a fifth-row seat and sip $23 Honey Deuce cocktails. It’s the United States Open, one of the glitziest, most expensive and most popular sporting events on the calendar, and it begins on Monday.
For many people the cost is prohibitive.
But there is a way to see great, professional tennis up close for free at the U.S. Open, and it has already begun. In the week before the main draw, several days of high-level, competitive professional tennis are on display on the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, all for free. Anyone can walk in without a ticket.
This pre-tournament tournament, where players battle to qualify for the last 16 spots in the Open, has been free to spectators at least since the tournament moved to Flushing Meadows in 1978. But the event has grown steadily since 2017, when “Fan Week” was officially introduced, with music, children’s events and clinics, and all the food concessions were opened for the first time during qualification rounds.
“I’ve been coming for 15 years and it’s bigger than ever,” said Lissette Molina-Gurevich, an architect from Maspeth, Queens. “I think it’s actually worth paying for, but don’t tell anyone I said that.”
If Fan Week was ever a secret, it’s not anymore. In 2011, about 56,000 people attended the qualifying rounds for free; there were no special fan events, and the U.S. Open was still in preparation mode during that week. Last year, Fan Week attendance ballooned to 158,000, and this year even more are expected.
“In the past, it felt like this great secret that nobody knew about,” said Nicole Kankam, a managing director of the United States Tennis Association in charge of expanding and organizing Fan Week. “Only the die-hard fans knew you could see great tennis for free. But every year we’ve added new layers.”
While there are many entertainment and promotional events that do require a paid ticket (like concerts and exhibition events with star players), the core of Fan Week is the free qualifying tournament for players whose rankings are not high enough to ensure an automatic bid into the main draw, where the likes of Novak Djokovic and Coco Gauff play.
In the qualifying rounds this week, 64 men and 64 women play three matches; those who win three in a row get a place in the main draw, where anything can happen. In 2021, Emma Raducanu won her three qualifying matches in front of sparse crowds on outer courts and went on to become the first qualifier to win the U.S. Open (or any of the four major tournaments).
Fans might see an aspiring newcomer they’ve never heard of, or a veteran making a comeback.
On Monday, Richard Gasquet, 38, a former No. 7 player in the world and a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2013, won his first qualifying match on Court 17 in front of scores of fans who got in for free. Heather Watson, a popular British player, won on Court 5, as did Diego Schwartzman, the Argentine who has twice reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
These matches are not held in the big stadiums like Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong, and spectators sometimes can get within a few feet of high-pressure, elite tennis. Barring rain, today is the last day of qualifying this year. But fans will still be able to watch many of the higher-ranked players and stars practicing around the grounds throughout the week, including on Friday.
Fan Week culminates with Kids’ Day on Saturday, with more programming aimed at children. But the heart of the event is the competition.
“Our research shows that the tennis is still the top reason people come out,” Ms. Kankam said. “These players are out there fighting to get the last spots into the main draw.”
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