Winning the experiential lottery: A casual tennis fan hits the US Open for the first time

I’ve never been to a tennis match before, let alone the US Open. As a native New Jerseyan turned New Yorker who hopped back across the Hudson to adore New York from a stone’s throw away, going to the US Open felt like something I should experience. The Grand Slam tournament takes place every year at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens—a venue I’ve ignored a few times, tbh, on my way to its across-the-street neighbor, Citi Field.  For those of you who may not be clued into “sports,” there was some big news announced prior to this US Open. Serena Williams, aka the greatest of all time (we’ll unpack this more in a bit, I promise), announced her retirement. I took a gamble on buying the winning ticket to see her, and guess what? I won! SPOILER ALERT: So did Serena.  How did I score a ticket to see Serena’s last US Open (and tournament in general) before her retirement? Let’s start at the beginning.  Tickets for the US Open went on sale the week of June 6, months before the draw of the players was announced. To be clear, without knowing the draw, there’s...