Using Miles to see the World: US Open Tennis Championship, New York
The 2011 US Open Tennis Championship began this Monday, August 29th 2011, following the unlikely occurrence of both an earthquake and a hurricane (Hurricane Irene, to be exact) in the greater New York area. But despite severe weather last week, the show will go on at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens as up-and-coming stars, as well as weathered veterans hit the courts.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the US Open Tennis Championship, we here at UsingMiles.com have boiled it down to everything you need to know in one easy-to-read blog!
It’s a five event, multiday match, for professional singles and doubles players with a separate tournament for junior, senior and wheelchair players. The US Open evolved from an isolated competition reserved for the wealthy in 1881, to its modern iteration as an international event with more than six hundred professional players competing for millions and millions of dollars!
This year the United States Tennis Association announced that the reward purse has been raised to a record setting $23.7 million. That is a LOT of trips around the world!The winners of the men’s and women’s singles competitions will now be receiving $1.8 million dollars each with the opportunity to earn an additional bonus of $1 million, based on performance in singles play.
Some of the highlights for 2011 US Open Tennis Championship include defending champion Raphael Nadal, top women players Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova and of course, Roger Federer, the five-time US Open winner who has one more chance to earn a Grand Slam title this year. There is a lot of speculation about whether Federer can continue to dominate into his thirties and if Nadal’s recent foot and hand injuries will affect his performance in the open. NBC Sports reported that Nadal’s fingers were badly burned when he was handed a hot plate in a Japanese restaurant a few weeks ago that scalded his fingers! Unbelievable, we agree.
Getting There
The first thing you’re going to need to do is figure our how you’ll get there. Fortunately there are a number of New York airports that can accommodate your US Open Tennis Championship experience. You can get started by searching for budget flights going into JFK, LaGaurdia (LGA) or Newark (EWR) Airports. Or, if you have frequent flyer miles saved up, now could be the right time to use them as the flight to New York will likely be the most expensive part of your stay. In our humble opinion, the easiest way to search for budget cash flights and award flight at the same time is on UsingMiles.com. Just sayin’.
Next you need a ticket. Ground Admissions Tickets range from $80 – $130 and can be purchased for any day of the Open you wish to see. Official US Open Tennis Grounds Admissions Tickets can be purchased here. Keep in mind that due to Hurricane Irene, New York City beaches, outdoor pools and some parks will remain closed until they have been safely cleared of tree and flood damage. There are, however, still several alternative places to go and sites to see, including the Museum of the Moving Image and the famous Jazz Tour of Queens .
If you make it to the 2011 US Open Tennis Championship, please let UsingMiles.com know! Send us your pics and we’ll post them on our blog. And if you go with miles, please tweet it to our hash tag @UsingMiles, and we’ll help you brag!
Much appreciated for the information and share!