Ed and I were fortunate enough to stop by the U.S. Open for a couple days of tennis before heading to Toronto for our good friend Siiri's wedding. We stayed in the Chinatown section of Queens, 1 stop from the Arthur Ashe Stadium, but spent the majority of our days catching players at practice courts, walking the grounds, or watching matches at one of the multiple stadiums. When we first got there, we went to the practice courts and were surprised to see how close you could get to the players. Sure, a fence was between us, but still, we were standing 10 feet from Rafaeal Nadal and Serena Williams! Nadal especially was amazing to watch in person. Just to hear the clean, deafening pop on his racket every time he hit was unreal. Throughout the sessions, we watched Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Madison Keys, Marty Fish, Venus Williams, Bethany Mattek-Sands, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, Andy Murray and more. The highlight though was the 2nd row seats we scored at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which we preferred over Arthur Ashe because of it's intimate setting. We held onto those seats long enough to watch Sara Errani, Lisicki vs. Giorgi and for the dramatic match with Jack Sock vs. Bemelmans where Jack passed out. It was awesome to sit right where the serves were coming directly at us. I literally flinched a few times. Our kids called us in the middle to tell us they saw us on TV : ) The days were long, exhausting and hot, but it was really a great experience overall. Now back playing tennis in Austin, I already feel like my strokes have improved from osmosis : ) I hope we can one day fulfill Ed's dream of attending all of the grand slam events!
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| Nadal at practice |
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| Serena Williams practice session |
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| Wozniacki practice |
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| Madison Keys (right) |
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| practice courts from left to right: Lisicki, Errani |
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| Marty Fish (in white) at his last US Open |
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| Bethany Maddok-Sands with the socks |
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| Serena Williams |
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| Serena's box. That's her mom with the hat |
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| Billie Jean King in the pink shirt |
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| Can you find the Pelaez' on TV??? |
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| Kyrgios in the stands |
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