Attending the US Open, the nation’s most important tennis event of the year, is pricey, with the cheapest tickets starting at $74. Still, you can catch some world class tennis matches this week for free, during the tournament’s qualifying rounds! Free US Open tennis? That might even be worth catching bed bugs on the 7 train on the way over!
The qualifying matches started yesterday and will continue through the week, until Friday, August 22, at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the same place where the official tournament is held. Matches each day during the qualifying rounds start at 11am, and the doors are open to the public at 10am, so get in there early and grab a great seat! During these qualifying rounds, 128 men and 128 women are fighting for 16 spots on each side, so you’ll probably get to see some pretty intense tennis.
There’s up to 1.5 million dollars in prize money this year, but it doesn’t have to come out of your pocket. And remember, with so many matches going on during the qualifying rounds this week, the crowds flock to the main courts, Arthur Ashe court and Louis Armstrong court, but sneak off to one of the smaller courts for much better seats and sometimes much better matches!