We Watched Jannik Sinner Before He Was Jannik Sinner

Arthur Ashe Stadium, August 31, 2021. We had no idea what we were about to watch.

Five years ago, Jinguk and I spent a day at the US Open. We wandered the outer courts the way grounds-pass people do — no plan, following the sound of whichever match seemed lively — and settled in a few feet from a lanky red-headed kid playing his first-round match.

We didn't know who he was. We stayed because the tennis was good.

The kid was Jannik Sinner. He had turned 20 two weeks earlier. This month he defended his Wimbledon title, and he's sitting at world No. 1 with the kind of lead that makes the rankings page look like a typo.

The proof: M. Purcell vs J. Sinner, first round, August 31, 2021. We were standing right there.

I only found out this year, going back through our photos. There's his name on the scoreboard, plain as day. We watched the future No. 1 in the world from a standing rail, for the price of a grounds pass, and walked off to get lunch.

And then we met Kwon Soon-woo

The same day gave us a second story I treasure even more. Walking the grounds, we ran into Kwon Soon-woo — the Korean player — and he was kind enough to take photos with us.

Here's the part we didn't know then, either: one month after that photo, Kwon won the Astana Open — the first ATP Tour title by a South Korean in 18 years — and climbed to a career-high No. 52. He's currently completing Korea's mandatory military service, and he's still winning Challenger titles this year. Somewhere in our camera roll, both of those 2021 stories were waiting.

Why the early rounds are the secret

This is the real reason I'm telling you all this before the 2026 US Open starts: the magic of this tournament isn't the finals you watch on TV. It's the first week, on the outer courts, where a grounds pass puts you close enough to hear the players breathe — and where, statistically, somebody you're ignoring is going to be world No. 1 someday.

I looked up the actual numbers before writing this: a grounds pass runs $65–135 depending on the day, while the cheapest finals tickets start around $341 (women's) and $657 (men's) in the upper deck — good seats go into the thousands. It's not just our take, either: plenty of longtime US Open regulars say the same thing, that a grounds pass is the smarter first move, especially in week one when future champions are still playing on the small courts. One more thing worth knowing: Fan Week (Aug 23–29) has free grounds admission if you register for a Fan Access Pass on the app.

The food village under Ashe. Plan a long lunch between matches.

Jinguk and I are New Yorkers, and we treat the Open as a summer ritual. Our one-line advice has never changed: skip the TV courts your first time. Buy the cheapest grounds pass, arrive early, and drift.

If you go (2026)

The 2026 US Open runs August 23 – September 13 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens.

Fan Week (the first week, with qualifying): free admission to the grounds — the best-kept secret in NYC sports
Grounds pass: access to every court except Arthur Ashe Stadium; early main-draw rounds are ideal
Getting there: 7 train to Mets–Willets Point, or LIRR from Penn/Grand Central; driving means parking lots + a shuttle
Bring: sunscreen and patience for security; bags are restricted, so pack light

The gates. Get there at opening if you want the good standing spots.

So now I check every draw sheet differently — because apparently we've been better at spotting future champions than we ever knew. Here's my question for you: have you ever seen someone perform before they were famous, and only realized later who you'd watched? Tell me in the comments — I want to hear your version of our Sinner story.

Subscribe for more of New York through our eyes — and if you're coming for the Open this year, the fair post from last week makes a great upstate day-trip pairing.

events & festivals, us open tennis, jannik sinner, kwon soon-woo, flushing meadows, nyc summer, grounds pass, through korean eyes, miguktv

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