Roosevelt Island Racquet Club

Across the river, just one stop away from Manhattan on the F train, is the Roosevelt Island Racquet Club. This club features 12 indoor har-tru courts, beautiful views of the New York City skyline and other ammenities such as a pro shop, lessons and a mini-gym. The courts here are well lit and in excellent condition. The RIRC offers membership but you do not have to be a member to play here; members get reduced rates and priority when reserving court time.

http://www.rirctennis.com/

Mason's Tennis Mart

For tennis clothing, footwear and racquets, check out Mason's Tennis Mart. This family owned store has been around for 30 years and and the staff is friendly and knowledgable. While their website is pretty basic and in need of some upgrading, the store - located on 53rd between Park & Madison - had a nice selection. I was specifically looking for tennis apparel and found brands such as Nike, Fila, Addidas, Tail and more. Note: they also do racquet stringing. http://www.masonstennis.com

More Courts in Riverside Park

Years ago I played tennis once at some courts in Riverside Park & 119th street. As I recall, the courts were pretty run down at the time. I went back there again recently and happily discovered that the courts were redone in the "US Open Blue" surface and the facility looked like it was in great shape. There are 10 hard courts here in beautiful Riverside Side Park alongside the Hudson River. As with other New York City public courts, to play here you either need a NYC tennis permit ($100) or a day pass ($7). Warning: you must purchase these in advance at the Arsenal in Central Park or at Paragon Sports; they are not sold at the Riverside courts. Courts must be reserved in person on a first come/first serve basis and reservations are not taken in advance.

Fort Washington Park Courts

In my quest to check out all the tennis courts in Manhattan, I took a trip up to Fort Washington Park. I heard there are some hard courts up there, just underneath the George Washington Bridge that not a lot of people know about. Indeed, when I was there one weekday, the courts were basically empty and no one was checking for a permit. Although I was under the impression one needed a NYC permit to play here, two players I asked while I was there claimed you do not. The problem with these 10 hardcourts is that, while it is probably easy to get on these courts, the court conditions were poor, at best. It looks like they have not been repaved in many years, and the lines were so faded that calling shots might be problematic, and the nets did not even have the center tape.

My Wimbledon Experience

As mentioned in my previous post, it is a goal of mine to attend all four Grand Slam tournaments solast year I went to London for Wimbledon 2007. I have to be honest: as a spectator, Wimbledon was not as exciting as the US Open. First of all, it rained almost nonstop, so we actually did not get to see a whole lot of tennis. Second, there is something about the way the grounds are layed out that felt cramped. I love walking around the National Tennis Center at the US Open - the grounds are beautiful, spacious, and there are so many different food courts and vendor shops to visit. This is not the case at Wimbledon, so when the matches were delayed because of rain (which was often), there wasn't much to do. Another thing - Wimbledon has no night matches. I think this is a big miss. Not only do the spectators not get to see as much tennisbut there is something about going to a night match at the US Open that is electric. I know Wimbledon is all about old traditions, but the crowd and the whole event just seemed subdued. Maybe I am a biased New Yorker, but from a spectator-sport point of view, the US Open has Wimbledon beat.

Wimbledon!

As I'm sure you tennis fans know, Wimbledon started yesterday. It has been a dream of mine to attend all four Grand Slam tournaments (and as a lifelong New Yorker I have been to the US Open dozens of times) so last year I made the trip across the pond for Wimbledon. Since I didn't purchase tickets in advance (which needed to be done through a ballot system approximately six months prior to the tournament), I joined the queue. Wimbledon sells about 500 tickets each day for Centre Court (these are the people you see on tv camping out in tents), but they sell 6000 ground admission tickets. These tickets entitle you to watch any of the matches on the side courts that have unreserved seating. So, if you don't mind waiting in line, it was actually pretty easy to get tickets to the matches the day of the event.
For more details, visit wimbledon.org

Paragon Sports

I think Paragon Sports is a great store. This sporting goods store has been a NYC institution since 1908 and you can find equipment and apparel for just about any sport here. But I have a bone to pick with Paragon. I was there over the winter and their tennis apparel department was reduced to two pathetic racks. There was basically no assortment. I went back again recently and things were much improved. The first floor area behind the cash registers was all tennis clothing for men and woman, and they did have a great selection, with brands like Nike, Addidas, Bolle, Prince and more. But does Paragon assume people only play tennis in the summer? What about indoor tennis? If you are looking for tennis clothing in the winter I guess you won't find it here.