The US Open, as far as spectator sports go, is pretty top-notch—both in-person and on TV: How many other events pair 120-mph serves, grunts that reverberate across the stadium, and surprising celebrity sightings (hello, hard-launch of Timothée and Kylie)?
The main competition—which kicks off on August 26 in Flushing, New York—is a spectacle, even if you don’t know a damn thing about the sport. But if you’re not a major tennis fan, it’s easy to get lost, especially given how fast it all moves. Why are coach-player interactions on the court so weirdly secretive? Who are those random people sprinting back and forth across like their lives are on the line? Did the announcers just shush the crowd?
Don’t fret: We’ve compiled (and answered) all your little questions—big, small, silly, strange—about the US Open and tennis in general as the tournament kicks off today.
1. Why are tennis balls neon yellow?
Tennis balls are teeny-tiny compared to a court—and with how fast play moves among pros, it’s a miracle we can see the little things at all. But that’s completely by design. Balls used to be black or white in the 1800s up until 1972. But when the general public began to tune into televised tennis in higher numbers during the ’70s, and with the advent of color TV, some broadcasters and producers—like the famed British naturalist David Attenborough, per the Associated Press (AP)—wanted to improve the watching experience. So the International Tennis Federation formally introduced the glowing, neon yellow balls we know today to help make the game more visible to viewers. (Of course, Wimbledon didn’t change their balls until the mid-’80s because…Wimbledon.)
2. Where do all the extra balls go after the tournament is over?
The Open goes through roughly 100,000 Wilson balls, many of which find second lives through various recreational and youth sports orgs throughout the country. Some of them will be donated to Recycleballs, a nonprofit that uses the rubber to create other items, like equestrian footing (the spongy surface of horse show arenas), playgrounds, and even tennis courts.
3. Speaking of balls: Who are the ball people you see furiously sprinting across the court and how the heck did they get that job?
In most pro tennis matches, it’s hard not to notice the serious-faced people (who aren’t players) crouching, leaping back and forth, and generally doing *the most.* But as anyone who’s ever played a tennis match with a friend, and found themselves wasting half of their energy chasing stray balls down the court knows, this role is essential in keeping the match seamlessly moving. In fact, you have to apply to try out to be a ball person, and the audition includes skills like passing to players as well as running, sprinting, and switching directions (for roughly 90 minutes). The moment players drop their bags on the court, for example, the ball crew has mere seconds to sprint to their positions at either the ends or middle of the court.
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4. Wait so…what’s the score?
Here’s a quick breakdown of some important tennis terms you should know:
- In tennis, certain points are paired with names. Love = zero points, 15 = the first point, 30 = the second point, 40 = the third point, and game = the fourth point. (A player has to score at least four points to win a game.)
- The term all refers to a tied score. So if each player scored a single point, the score would be 15-all.
- If both players scored three points each (40-40), that’s called a deuce.
- If the person serving wins the point after the deuce, it’s called ad-in (or your advantage). Then, if they score another point while it’s ad-in, they win the game. But if you lose the deuce point, it’s called ad-out, and if the other player earns the next one after that, they win the game.
Honestly, “How does tennis scoring work?” is not a little question, but we have a full guide to help explain it that you should read.
5. Are women allowed to wear shorts?
You’ll probably see a lot of players wearing tennis skirts at the tournament, but they don’t have to. In fact, the US Open dress code is actually pretty lax in comparison to other big matches, like Wimbledon, where players’ uniforms must be all-white, down to their shoes. US Open competitors have historically been pretty playful with their ensembles, including a few people sporting colorful, patterned bodysuits and onesies at the 2023 tournament. Twenty-year-old Serena Williams famously wore an all-black Puma catsuit during the 2002 Open.
6. Where do the competitors—namely women in skirts—put their tennis balls during play?
Speaking of tennis skirts: If you’ve ever donned one before, you probably already know the answer: There are discreet little pockets in most garments that can hold a few balls. Still, as SELF’s fitness director, Christa Sgobba, recently complained, “Our tennis uniforms in high school did not have pockets!” (So safe to say it’s not a universal requirement!)
7. So why is Wimbledon’s dress code so freaking strict?!
Get ready to roll your eyes so far back into your head that they become permanently lodged there. In an interview with BBC Culture from 2023, Robert Lake, author of A Social History of Tennis in Britain, said this: “White hides sweat the best, looks clean, sharp, and tidy, representing goodness (aesthetically) and, given cricket connections, also reflects upper-middle-class leisure historically.” (BRB making a mental note to watch this year’s Open wearing my tackiest, most colorful Spandex outfit in a foam Statue of Liberty hat with Cowboy Carter streaming in the background.)
8. Do US Open competitors win prize money?
This year’s total cash allotment for players will be the biggest in US Open history: $75 million (a 15% increase from 2023). The men’s and women’s singles champs will receive $3.6 million apiece, which is a 20% uptick from the previous year. According to Brendan McIntyre, the senior director of corporate communications for the US Open, all four Grand Slam events offer equal prize money for men and women; however, “the US Open was the first to offer this in 1973.”
But it’s not just the victors who get something: Second-place winners get $1.8 million, while semifinalists get $1 million. Even athletes who lose in the first round get $100,000. (Not bad!)
9. Do fans have to be quiet during US Open matches?
The Open’s more casual look in comparison to other big tennis tourneys is reflected in its overall attitude too—the Arthur Ashe Stadium gets famously rowdy. “It's the loudest and probably the most humid conditions of all center courts of all four Grand Slams,” Novak Djokovic told reporters during a press conference in 2023. That year it welcomed 957,387 fans back for the 20-day event, an 8% increase in attendance from 2022—and those people like to party, often to the players’ frustration. At the 2022 tournament, Australian Nick Kyrgios claimed that a spectator smoking weed caused his asthma symptoms to kick up.
Still, that doesn’t mean fans can lose their shit in their seats entirely—you agree to a Guest Code of Conduct when you buy a ticket. Basically, you need to “be respectful of others” and “not engage in inconsiderate or inappropriate behavior” that’s “including, but not limited to, using foul, abusive, offensive, threatening, or inappropriate language or gestures, fighting, throwing objects, and any other behavior that creates a disruptive atmosphere or detrimental experience for players, officials, and other guests.” Of course, whether or not that warrants a “SHHH!” from the officials will really depend on how disruptive the offense is.
10. Can coaches talk, or signal to, players in the stands?
Up until recently, coaches couldn’t communicate with players in the four major Grand Slam tourneys. (These are the major pro tennis competitions, held annually in Australia, France, Britain, and the US, respectively.) That led to a lot of controversy in high-profile matches, including with Serena Williams back at the 2018 Open. In her final loss to Naomi Osaka, the match umpire spotted Williams’s coach gesturing to her from the stands, which led to Williams receiving a code violation. Later on in the match, she smashed her racket and argued with the umpire. The combination of violations caused Williams to receive a point penalty. The violations didn’t cause her to lose the game, per se, but it sparked convo about the old no-coaching rule in tennis.
Starting in 2022, the Association of Tennis Professionals announced it would start to allow some “off-court coaching” at select tournaments that year, including the US Open. While the coach can’t come down to the court and walk a player through a complex strategy, they *can* throw out a few words or short phrases (but not have full convos) from designated seats. They’re also able to dole out nonverbal instructions, like hand signals, per the 2024 Official Grand Slam Rule Book.
11. Why are there penalties for smashing a racket?
Basically, all players at Grand Slam tournaments are subject to fines upwards of $100,000 for any individual violation of “unsportsmanlike conduct,” per the rule book. There’s nothing in the text that spells out racket-smashing specifically—just “circumstances that are flagrant and particularly injurious to the success of a tournament, or are singularly egregious”—so it’s kind of up to officials at the match to determine how offensive a behavior actually is.
12. What's the deal with racket stringing?
Players at this year’s tournament are allowed five free racket stringings per round. That’s a big deal—how tightly, and with how much tension, it’s strung can make a major difference in the speed and style of play. Per the US Open, the less tension on the strings, the more power the racket can put forth. The more tension on them, however, the more control and precision a player has.
13. What’s a Honey Deuce?
Just like the Kentucky Derby has the Mint Julep, the US Open has its own signature cocktail: the Honey Deuce. Here’s the backstory: While at a farmer’s market, Nick Mautone, a restaurateur and mixologist, noticed that honeydew melon balls bore a striking resemblance to tennis balls. So in an attempt to create a special drink for the 2006 tournament, Mautone garnished a vodka-lemonade-raspberry liquor cocktail with the melon balls. The rest is history!
14. Did the tennis bracelet gain popularity because of the Open?
Kind of! Like neon-colored tennis balls, this origin story goes back a few decades. Legend has it that pro tennis star Chris Evert used to wear a dainty string of diamonds on her wrist during matches, and when it flew off and temporarily halted play at the 1978 US Open, spectators dubbed it a “tennis bracelet.”
15. Why does Anna Wintour love tennis?
ICYDK, our boss is a big, big tennis buff (in addition to being a regular player). In a 2021 interview with Kara Swisher, she mentioned that she’d “like to run the Tennis Channel” in her next life. She’s also good friends with several of the sport’s big names, including Roger Federer. “I want to raise a racket to Roger—in respect, in hope, in gratitude—as he embarks on the next phase of an extraordinary adventure,” she wrote in a 2022 essay for Vogue upon news of his retirement. “Some people are as irreplaceable in life as they are in sports, and Roger is a proven champion on both counts.”
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Plus, the US Open is just a damn good time. Like the rest of us nonathletes, Wintour likely doesn’t mind the momentary respite from work to get sucked into the cheers, grunts, raw emotion, and festive, fruity drinks that make it such a uniquely enjoyable experience.
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