for The New York Times: Where You Can Stumble Upon a U.S. Open Match by José A. Alvarado Jr.

News

for The New York Times: Where You Can Stumble Upon a U.S. Open Match

josé a. alvarado jr.

Sep 17, 2025

Summary

A small part of the New York City tennis tournament is staged, miles away from the main action, at the gleaming Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in the Bronx.

There was ample street parking at the U.S. Open, only spitting distance from the courts. Admission was free to see some of the best tennis players in the world. There were plentiful seats and it was easy to move about the grounds, which are tucked into a park in the heart of — the Bronx?

Yes, the U.S. Open is in the Bronx, too.

Each day during the U.S. Open, tens of thousands of fans pay high prices to cram into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens. But a small part of the tournament is also staged 10 miles away in a bucolic section of the Bronx, where the junior qualifying event is held at the gleaming Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning in Crotona Park.

Alex Olmo, who lives nearby on 172nd Street, was walking his dog, Joey, through the park on Thursday when he stumbled upon two players crushing tennis balls back and forth. It was noticeably different from the practice sessions he normally sees there.

“Whoa,” he exclaimed, “they are really playing.”

Photographed for The New York Times, with words by David Waldstein.

José A. Alvarado Jr.

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