This article first appeared in the Sep/Oct 2010 issue of World Gaming magazine.
The final tennis major of 2010 will be held at Flushing Meadows and the best tennis players in the business will battle it out at one of the least forgiving sporting events on the planet.
New York has never been a city for the faint of heart. When it comes to ‘in your face, tell you how it is’ attitude no one does it like a New Yorker. It might not be as rough as it used to be but make no mistake, when it comes to tennis it is a mile away from the strawberries and cream style of Wimbledon.
The French and the Australian Opens join the US and Wimbledon to make up the four Grand Slam tournaments held each year. The French tournament held at Roland Garros on the red European clay is unique due to its surface and the quaint support of the French. They will cheer on anyone who will utter a few words in French unlike the real Frenchmen who will get jeered off the court if they start to lose. The Australian Open is considered the least prestigious of the Grand Slams but without doubt this tournament is the best run, the best attended and features a different kind of wild card; that of the pounding Aussie sun which leaves no prisoners.
Wimbledon is a bit like St Andrews when you talk about golf. They are simply the mecca of their respective sports. Nothing beats winning at Wimbledon. The white clothes, the well-behaved spectators and the royal boxes politely cheering their favourites with reverence have given this tournament the gravitas it has earned over the years.
The US Open throws reverence out the window and replaces it with a brash atmosphere that can be truly electric. Who could forget Jimmy Connors’ run at the title a few years back? He turned back the clock with the full support of the New York crowd and displayed a comeback of epic proportions – that is until he fell at one of the last hurdles. One for the history books to be sure.
Serena Williams’ outburst at the line lady in 2009 really wasn’t that surprising. You couldn’t imagine Williams behaving like that at Wimbledon, but in New York anything goes and that’s the charm of this particular tournament. The first Andre Agassi, the one with the rock star hair and the gold chains resting on the hairy chest; now that was New York. That was the sort of look and attitude that captivates this crowd. John McEnroe’s behaviour made most of the world cringe with embarrassment but the New Yorkers embraced it. For them, it is just the way you talk to people. If you have a problem, get it off your chest! That’s the New York way. Don’t bottle it up and let it eat away at you!
Fashion and theatre is what people are looking for at Flushing Meadows. Sleeveless tops and baggy shorts for the guys and plunging necklines and short skirts for the ladies. Colour and sex, that’s what the fans want and that’s what sells, none of this only white rubbish. In New York, brand power is on the menu and giants like Nike and Adidas compete for who can push the limits when it comes to outrageous tennis fashion.
Who will win the 2010 US Open? It’s in the lap of the gods now, but one thing that is for certain. There will be plenty of screaming, grunting and fist pumping as these modern day warriors battle it out on Arthur Ashe Arena in search of tennis immortality.
Tennis is one of the biggest sports worldwide and its purity makes it a great sport to bet on. Unlike other sports, there is no apparent advantage to either player through equipment, weather conditions or other outside factors. There might not be any other sport in the world that pitches two athletes against each other in such a mano-a-mano fashion.
