Queensland

To those of you who don’t know, I (James Tucker) recently returned from working at the 2009 US OPEN in New York City. I have put together an article about my US Open Experience, (Sorry I couldn’t keep it shorter). I hope you all enjoy the read and that it inspires you to make the most of your officiating.

 

From the courts at Queens Park Tennis Centre for the annual Rosebowl Championships, its just another usual local day in Queensland tennis officiating. However, one week later and 26 hours on a plane and I am in the city that never sleeps . . . New York City.

 

After getting over the jetlag and a few days sightseeing, it’s into work, and the initial excitement sets in when I first lay eyes on Arthur Ashe Stadium. ‘Ashe’ is the largest tennis-only stadium in the world and seats around 22500 people (50% larger than Rod Laver Arena.) I would have to get through 5 days of qualies before I could hope for the chance to take on the stadium. Qualies were a good warm up to calling lines at grand slam level, and there was a large following of crowds around the US players which gave a good atmosphere.

 

Having only ever officiated in Australia, there were many different procedures that I needed to adapt to. Firstly our line assignments were determined by the squad leaders, and it was not unusual to do all lines in the same day. Another procedure that took some getting used to is seeing the ballkids work. I use the term ‘kids’ loosely as most of them are fully grown adults. There is no bossing these guys around, they work like a well oiled machine, throwing the balls from one end of the court to the other with great ease and add to the overall experience of the US Open. One new procedure that makes the US Open unique is the adoption of the 5^th set tiebreak. What better time to experience this than my first ever main draw match. Although I was on court 16 and the crowd was sparse, the fact that the previous 4 hours of matchplay would be determined by a 12 point tiebreak definitely raised the pressure. Finally one procedure that I could do without is the fact that when the ball goes into the crowd on the three top courts (Ashe, Armstrong and Grandstand) The crowd gets to keep it, and the service line umpire needs to replace it. As you can imagine, this places a lot more responsibility on the service line umpire but creates a great experience for the crowd members, which is the aim in the end.

 

Finally, at the end of the first week, I get my chance on Ashe. Friday Night session with Venus Williams and Rafael Nadal. Being second squad on was challenging my patience as I couldn’t wait to face the largest crowd I would have ever been in front of, but it eventually came around. Initially I kept my head down and concentrated on the base line, and after 45 minutes, Venus wrapped up the first match, the crowd went wild and I looked up and took it all in. What a stadium! What an atmosphere! The New York crowd are a great experience, and always get behind their players. Plus the sheer size of the stadium and to see it at capacity is something that i’ll always remember.

 

Throughout the tournament, the days got longer and the matches got closer and closer. But that didn’t stifle my chance to catch up with old friends and to make new ones. While many of us have befriended the internationals in Melbourne each year, there are also a large number of officials who don’t make the trip to Australia. This may be for many reasons, but it creates for a fantastic working environment when all the officials are so friendly and willing to help out. Ofcourse, the place to do the socialising is MANHATTAN!!

 

Manhattan lived up to all its hype and more. Our Hotel was a short walk from Central Park, 5^th Avenue and Times Square. A multitude of restaurants, bars and nightspots littered our neighbourhood and never left us wishing we had something to do. New York is an experience in itself, with some of the most recognised and most famous tourist attractions in the world. No matter where you go in the city, the Manhattan skyline borders the horizon.

 

Finally there was one opportunity that I should mention. The US Officials had arranged for a presentation by NBA referee Violet Palmer. For those who don’t know her, Violet was the first ever female NBA referee to officiate at the top level of Basketball. She is still the only female in a squad of 61 NBA officials. Her presentation was two-fold. On the first day, we learnt a lot of how she rose through the ranks of Basketball Officiating and the ways she deals with some of the biggest ego’s in the game. On the second day, we were able to gauge a lot more information that is relevant to both Basketball and Tennis. Some of the points made were the importance of off-court behaviour and how that can weigh heavily on your productivity, and opportunities to progress. Another point was dealing with adversity. The NBA contains some of the greatest personalities on the globe. For officials of any background to step up to these individuals and deal with their issues is awesome. Unfortunately I cannot recall every lesson I learnt through the presentation, however maybe this sort of seminar could be utilised in Australia, something to think about?

 

As I made the long 26 hour flight back to Australia, I took with me the great experiences from the US Open and all the friends I made along the way. Overseas travel is an amazing learning tool in itself, but to add in the excitement and encounters of working at one of the major sporting events in the world was a great privilege.