Two years ago, my husband and I picked up from our home in Northern California and went to live in Manhattan for three months. We thought of it as the equivalent of our daughter’s semester abroad: an adult adventure in a new place meant to broaden our horizons. Months ahead of the move, I had a list of things we definitely wanted to do and restaurants we wanted to try. Number one on that list was to go to the U.S. Open.
If you spend any time in NYC while the Open is going on, you can feel the draw of the event from every part of Manhattan. I had been to the U.S. Open twice before fall of 2022. The first time, I went during the day, wore the wrong outfit, sat in the sun, sweated my brains out and got sunburned. The second time, we went to the night session, saw an amazing Federer match and had to wait an hour to get in an Uber home because the trains do not run after midnight when the matches end. For my third experience, I was determined to get the logistics right. We went to the day matches, took the LIRR directly from the city, sat in the shade and it was seamless. Great tennis, perfect seats, no transportation issues and a thoroughly enjoyable time.
Also on my list of things to do during our city adventure was to try to figure out how to play some tennis and pickleball. Ahead of our Labor Day arrival, I did a bunch of networking, and friends from California connected me to several people who play tennis in New York City. One person famously said to me, “Don’t bother trying to play tennis in NYC - there are too many other amazing things to do, and the tennis is inconvenient, expensive and not that great.” Based on this comment, I decided that a three month break from tennis might be a good idea.
I think it took about ten days for me to change my mind. I realized that if I didn’t start playing tennis, I might go a little stir crazy. So, I started digging into the leads I had accumulated. First stop, the three public courts in Hudson River Park. If I knew other people to play with in NYC, this might be a cheap option to hit balls. However, there is a one hour time limit and all three courts are first come, first serve. You could be waiting five minutes or several hours to play. After 20+ years of convenient, suburban tennis, this option didn’t pencil out in terms of effort versus reward.
Next, I looked into tennis clinics at Sportime on Randall’s Island. I was able to connect with a pro at Sportime. Then, I went to Google Maps and took a look at the route to get there: a bus and two subway lines and then another bus or a 15 min walk. I circled back to the pro for his advice on how to get to Randall’s Island, and he said that the walk might be a bit “gritty” and I should consider taking an Uber from the subway. Given that I was just finding my stride with city living and had yet to incorporate buses into my transportation repertoire, I passed on this option.
Through friends of friends, I was referred to a couple of private tennis clubs in Midtown Manhattan. One club offered a “seasonal” membership option that seemed intriguing. The most perplexing part of this option was that the price increased with your age. This was certainly the most complex and expensive option, so I started googling again for tennis clinics in and around Manhattan.
I signed up for a clinic at Sutton East Tennis, a bubble with eight red clay courts right under the Queensboro Bridge. This was an all-level clinic with two pro’s and eight people on each court. Playing tennis on clay is always a treat, and it was a new experience to play in a bubble.
I also tried a few clinics at the Roosevelt Island Racquet Club. I am happy to report that this location solved the tennis riddle for me. I slotted into a weekly clinic, and I was able to get back into the rotation the following year when we returned to NYC for a second extended stay.
I met several great women in these clinics who gave me lots of insights on what my life might be like if I had raised kids on the Upper East Side. I rode the subway and tram back and forth and generally loved this urban take on tennis and all of the adventures that came with finding the right clinic and getting used to playing in a bubble on an island. If I were to move to NYC permanently, I would probably want to supplement these clinics with games and teams, but for a short term stay, this was the perfect solution.
