The New York Open: Failure From Day 1

New Stadium. New Court Surface. Major Tennis Area. What could go wrong? Well... everything.

Launched in 2018 as the 'NEXT BIG THING' for professional tennis, the New York Open ATP tennis tournament has ultimately gone down in history as a major failure, having been CANCELLED after only 3 years of operation. For such a promising and hyped event, why did the New York Open flop so spectacularly?

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[ryanguzman]

My dad actually went to this tournament and the stadium was so empty that he got to sit in the players box of Victor Estrella Burgos after chatting it up with his coach and wife 😂

[ryantruta]

I live in New York. Another problem with this event was that nobody knew it existed. I only went the final year in 2020, and the bigger names (Isner, Anderson, Raonic) all lost in their opening matches. The crowd was more enganged in the doubles match where Opelka and Johnson were partners than in the singles matches.

[thebigsquirrel]

Who knew that New Yorkers would socially distance themselves at this event before it became mainstream?

[krisherdown]

I live on Long Island, work right near where the tournament was held. NOBODY in the area knew this tournament existed! No advertising anywhere beyond Tennis Channel. Didn't even have traffic issues in the area, something that normally existed when the Islanders played.

[thebigsquirrel]

6:57 "and future top 10 player Donald Young"

You literally never cease to amaze, CT 😂

[yashgupta]

A new CULT TENNIS vid.. today's a good day

[Atxcmtb]

I’ve never played a single match of tennis and yet I love every video this guy has ever put out! Keep it up man!

[mmm]

I remember this tournament because in it there was a match with record breaking amount of aces in a best of 3 match. Opelka vs Isner. Opelka hit 43 and Isner 38 if my memory serves me.

[solomonomusic]

I ballboyed for this event and my lord was it empty lol. Gotta say it was pretty cool to hang with the players in such an intimate atmosphere

[KarlMalowned]

Yeah I always questioned the scheduling. New York winter is no joke. The best place for this tournament would have been directly before the US Open. Like Sydney before the AO, Lyon before the FO and Eastbourne right before Wimbledon. You’d capitalize on fans already being in NY…

[lachlancampbell]

That black court is beautiful, the perfect colour contrast. I hope another tournament uses this idea.

[WivoRN]

Wow that's very interesting, never heard of this tournament before!
P.S: your level of editing is just getting ridiculous now... specially that bit with the empty crowd, insane!

[deucemckenzie]

I went to the last 3 days of the 2020 Event. It was kind of fun being at such a small high level tennis tournament. I didn't realize it was going to be the last days of the whole event, or possibly the last three days of the Coliseum in general.

[chargingTennisClips]

The home of the black court will be missed. RIP

[aerotive]

A guy I know paid ~ $7 for court side seats and saw Nishikori and some other pretty well known players there. Yeah, $7 ain't sustainable.

[selos]

As someone who lives near NY, I was so upset when I found out that this was canceled forever. Thanks for telling me why!!

[ayushkarupakula]

I was one of the 2111 people at the final in 2019, caught a ball signed by Reilly

[quentinceb]

I went to the championship match the year Opelka won. I brought my GF. I live in BK. It took so long to get there by public transport and then eventually Uber. The town we landed in by the Long Island Railroad was so ugly, and if she wasn't there with me, I would have really regretted buying the tickets. The Stadium was actually a cool place to see tennis, but the crowd was low even for the final match. So, in the end, don't regret going but planned to never go again. Great video. You hit the nail on the head.

[ronald]

DUDE WHEN IT USED TO BE THE MEMPHIS OPEN IT WAS SO FUN! PEOPLE ACTUALLY WENT TO MEMPHIS OPEN!

[TomSmith-gwfn]

I went one year with my sister during the day. It was a GHOST TOWN in the coliseum. It felt like a practice session for a sporting event, not a sporting event.