Quiet Please: A Night at the US Open

Tennis is one of the very few sports that I actually understand well (I played doubles on my high school team) although I admit that I don't really follow the pros now, other than major tournaments. We got tickets for the first night of play back in July, and have been really excited for it since. You don't know until 3 days before who you're actually going to see, but we lucked out with our two matches: Venus Williams vs Vera Dushevina, and Andy Roddick vs Bjorn Phau. We were also in Row U of the top tier (5 rows from the top!) which helps explain the ant-sized players in my pictures. However, for $22 apiece we got 6 hours of entertainment, including:

--Marines with flags at the Opening Night festivities.
--Speeches and awards by Mayor Bloomberg, Andre Agassi, Mia Hamm, David Robinson, and Doug Flutie.
--The O'Jays singing "Love Train" (apparently they want to nickname the 7 subway the Love Train, since that is the one which goes to Flushing Meadows, so we kept giggling at 2 am on the ride home about it.)
--Venus and Vera going to tie-break TWICE and then ending the third set 6-3 (Venus wins, despite a medical time-out.) The second match didn't start until after 11.
--Roddick and Phau both falling on separate occassions. I mean, that's not a good thing, but it does make for some excitement. Their match was lots of fun to watch--Roddick's serves are crazy (132 mph!!), but Phau is FAST. They finished in two sets, but a lot of the games went to deuce, so it wasn't a definite shutout.
--the chance, post-midnight, to sneak up a few tiers since so many people had left by then. We had a really good view for Roddick and Phau's second set. Our original view was actually pretty good, and it gets so quiet that you can hear everything anyway. And we were at an angle so that we could see clearly whether shots were in or out.

(row U, after the crowd had cleared out)
And here are some things to remember for your own jaunts to the US Open:
--DO NOT bring a bag or purse. We had the foresight to go bag-less, and it's a jolly good thing we did, because the bag line to be screened for security was insane. And the other non-bag line had no wait at all.
--They sell earpiece radios, which you can use to listen to commentators while in the stands. DO NOT get them, because I have a feeling they are probably pricier than they should be, and why would you want to listen to the announcers when you're seeing it live? Moreover, you will look like a tool.
--DO bring a blanket, or sweatshirt. It gets cold at the top, especially when it's that late at night. Also, this part of Queens is so close to JFK that planes fly overheard very low, and there are wind currents. The seats further down don't have this problem.
--DO go to the qualifying rounds the week before, if only for the reason that it is free. There are 18 courts with small bleachers at each, and you're free to walk around between all the courts and watch any matches you want. Granted, these are the players that are going to get kicked out in the first round, but they are still REALLY good. I was working the day my cousin went and we were going to go again, and then it was raining...next year??