Author: Philip Gardner

Above: China’s Bu Yunchaokete 

Tuesday August 20th, 2024 – Today, for the 25th summer, I made the trek out to Flushing to the US Open. For the first few years after moving to NYC in 1998, I would go to the main tournament once or twice a season. As that became increasingly expensive, even for a day pass, I started going to the qualifying matches. For several summers, this was perfect: as it was  free, I sometimes went three of the four days. The people who came to watch were true tennis fans; sometimes only 2 dozen or so people would be watching a given match. But then the NY Times wrote about the qualifiers as an inexpensive destination for a summer’s day, and each year the crowds grew, bolstered by parents dragging their kids and by large groups of youngsters from summer camps. 

Nowadays the qualifying tournament is more like a big event where tennis matches are there to be watched if you’re interested. There’s lots of shopping and dining opportunities, and various entertainments for children. Crowds mill around; people will drop by to watch a few points in a match and then drift away.

Today, I set out early but a delay on the #7 line caused me to arrive just as the first matches were starting. I picked the least crowded court and watched a match between Germany’s Eva Lys and the American-born Czech player Gabriela Knutson. Ms. Lys dominated the first set, but in the second, Ms. Knutson got her bearings and gave the German a run for her money, coming from behind while Lys had match-point within her grasp. The audience, which grew in size as the match became more heated, seemed vocally supportive of Ms. Knutson; but Ms. Lys prevailed. Highlights here.

I then went over to Court 12 where the “match of the day” between China’s Bu Yunchaokete and Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama was soon to begin. Wei had urged me to check out his compatriot, Bu, and I’d seen and enjoyed the Japanese fellow at prior Opens.

Bu has a cracking wallop of a serve, but it sometimes flew long, or went into the net. His shots in general showed blistering power, which Uchiyama could not always deal with. Bu took the first set, but Uchiyama stepped up his game in the second set, where Bu seemed in better control of his power, but Uchiyama had more answers. The set went to a tie-break, with Bu the victor. Watch highlights here. 

Above: the Cerundolo brothers, Francisco and Juan Manuel

On the schedule I saw the name ‘Cerundolo’ but I could not imagine why the talented Argentine, Francisco Cerundolo, would have to qualify. I went to have a look, and found that Cisco has a kid brother: Juan Manuel.

Today, Juan Manuel was facing a tall and lanky Brit: Billy Harris. Harris, who has a rather peculiar service motion, took the first set comfortably. But then Juan Manuel’s plucky determination took hold; he had some great shots in the second set, and the audience, seemingly intrigued by the David-and-Goliath situation, seemed to be urging him on. The final set could have gone either way, and while Harris won in the end, the Argentine played admirably and won new fans along the way. Highlights here.

I headed for the train to Manhattan; weather-wise, this had been the most perfect day I’d ever spent at the Open. Thinking of all the players – renowned or forgotten – I’ve seen play there since 1998 (Kim Clijsters won my first-ever live US Open match!), I wondered if this might be my last trip out to Flushing. Time will tell.

~ Oberon