Jackson Heights, NY—I’ve been to US Open qualifying for around 20 years, and I’ve used every word imaginable to describe it, except one: Crisp. Today’s projected high of 72 degrees with dew points in the high 40s must rank as the most autumnal of August days at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. I could not wrap my head around this forecast as I left Maryland yesterday and I badly under-packed. This is the time of year that I can’t usually wait to get my Hokas off and put on some recovery sandals, but it was the opposite this morning. I had to put on shoes and socks just to be warm enough to walk to get coffee.
It’s been fashionable to say that US Open Fan Week was a well-kept secret. Well, that was before COVID-19. The grounds were packed yesterday and I expect heavy crowds for the last two rounds of qualifying, thanks in part to this taste of Fall weather.
With 128 qualifying matches already in the books, it feels like we are a week into these proceedings. Half of the hopefuls field is eliminated by now, but the next two days of tennis are sights to behold. Two wins in 24 hours and you’re in.
Thanks to the Arthur Ashe nighttime festivities taking place this week, you’ve got quite a few stars here earlier than usual. Naomi Osaka, Taylor Fritz, Nick Kyrgios, Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton were spotted on the practice courts yesterday before their evening exos on Ashe.
How many times have you said, “(S)he’s in qualifying here?”
Every year, there’s always the usual suspects, the perennial qualifiers. I won’t name names, but you know exactly who I’m talking about. More common are the folks who graduate from qualifying and their career arc lands them in the main draw almost every year after that. Then there’s the older players, those coming back from injuries, who surprise you because they’re still here at Fan Week, fighting for their career lives.
Borna Gojo is one of those surprise players to me. He’s qualified here before and made it to the 4th round last year, vaulting him to a career sugar high of #72. This year, he’s back down to #176 and that itsy bitsy spider has to crawl up the water spout again to get to the 2024 main draw. He looked ready for prime time yesterday in a 6-3, 6-4, 74 minute win over Nick Hardt of the Dominican Republic. Just when I thought I’d seen such built-in fan support for US Open players from other countries (Poland, Italy, Greece, China, etc.), I was impressed with the turnout of Dominicans at that match on Court 13. I’d never heard of Nick Hardt until yesterday, but he had a rowdy crowd ready to root him on. The 2020 census showed that nearly 23% of Bronx residents were born in the DR. You’ve got to love that. And that is why the US Open is better in Queens than anywhere else in New York, or the rest of the country for that matter.
—S. Fogleman
Tennis Atlantic 
Return Serve?