The crowds are gathering and the players are gearing up for the tennis championship of all championships: The US Open of Tennis (https://www.usopen.org/index.html) kicks off at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center today.

The US Open has long started on a Monday. But this year it runs Aug. 24 through Sept. 7. With the leadup buzz from the first year of the reimagined – and successful – mixed doubles program, even more folks have their eyes on attending at least a day of the tourney.

The Open is like a Disney World of tennis, only nothing is pretend. The grounds, in the heart of Flushing Meadows, New York, are lush and beautiful. On them you’ll find lots of courts and three stadiums, restaurants, a food court that’s an homage to New York noshing, cocktail, coffee and ice cream booths, live TV operations you can see in action, shopping and all kinds of surprises. Even people who aren’t tennis-obsessed love this venue and event. It’s spectacular.

And while tickets tend to sell out at the speed of an Alcaraz first serve, that doesn’t mean you’re bounced before the first round. With a little luck and some good planning, you can still get up close to some great fun. Here’s how.

1: First, you’ll need tickets. The Open changed their ticketing structure a few years back in a way that this regular attendee endorses: Now, you can choose not just from general grounds passes or Arthur Ashe Stadium tix, but also from a kind of hybrid that gives you an assigned seat in either the Grandstand or Armstrong Stadiums along with grounds pass rights. I really love that new option: it keeps things (relatively) affordable but gives you an assured seat all day long, even if you head out to roam for a bit.

That said, general grounds passes, particularly on the early days, work well. With them, you can pop in on every match you want, other than at Ash. Search now and you sometimes find last-minute deals thanks to folks who back out late. Last year, just days before the Tuesday rounds I scored Grandstand Seat/Grounds pass tickets for just a bit above face value. It can happen.

2: Planning your day is a great idea, but keep those plans fluid. A day grounds pass allows you to stay all day and until the lights are shut down at night – which is often very late. That means you can see a whole lot of tennis and have all kinds of food and drink in one session should you wish.

For me, the early rounds are best. Every court has action all day and night and often, because of the number of matches, you’ll find a top world player on a small outer court. Imagine sitting on a bench so close to one of your favorite players you can hear them breathe? Totally doable in early rounds.

With a grounds pass that includes a stadium seat, you can come and go from that seat easily, taking time to catch some outer court action. Without it, you’ll be OK too. In the general admission seats, people tend to come and go, which means you can usually get back into almost any match. But consider this: using just grounds passes in the past, my spouse and I would arrive early, claim a couple of great seats in Grandstand or Armstrong and camp out there for the day. Every match we saw was fantastic and included notable players. We’d take turns heading out to bring back food or drink. It’s a great day and night.

Think ahead for food, too. The grounds are super crowded, so knowing what you might want prior helps cut down on time. For me it’s easy: I cannot say no to a Carnegie Deli sandwich. But no worries: there’s something for everyone.

3: Getting there from the Greater Boston area is easy. Should you drive, I suggest heading down the night before (stop at Pepe’s in New Haven for great pizza if you do), or leaving very early to beat traffic a bit. It’s a straight shot and on site parking is available.

Should you have some airline miles you’re hankering to shed, fly to LaGuardia and you are only a few miles and a quick train or Uber away from the grounds.

But I suggest staying. You have a lot of choices. You can opt for Stamford, CT (which has a great food scene, by the way) and hop the train to and from. It’s pretty much door to door and you can find some hotel deals that way. Or stay close by. This year we chose the newer Westin LaGuardia, which like many nearby hotels offers a shuttle to and from the grounds, Or stay in Manhattan and do some city things while there.

4: Some basics: You absolutely can carry in food, so packing a few snacks (and even a sandwich if you are looking to budget) is fine. Bring along a water bottle; it’s hot there but you’ll find plenty of filtered water stations to fill up on – and you won’t get stuck paying insane prices for a bottle of water.

5: Do sample it all. Meander the grounds. Try out the food, have that zen moment when a top world player walks right past you. And order a Grey Goose Honey Deuce, the signature drink of the Open. It’s delicious.

The on-court action continues, even as the sun begins to set. (Photo Moira McCarthy)
The US Open is one of the most popular sporting events each year. In 2024, just under 600,000 of the event’s signature Grey Goose Honey Deuce were sold. (Photo Moira McCarthy)