U.S. Open Night matches a highlight for Melfort

Edward Melfort’s first trip to the U.S. Open was an experience he’ll never forget, and the night matches stole the show.

Melfort is a tennis pro in Manteca where his focus is youth. He’s been recognized for organizing events in the local area and is an avid proponent of the sport. Yet, attending a major is one thing he hadn’t done, until now.

Melfort won tickets to this year’s U.S. Open via a tournament director raffle done by USTA NorCal, granting him the opportunity of a lifetime. With four of his close friends at his side, he was able to take in the fast-paced Open matches in the even faster-paced city.

Among the stars, Melfort was most excited to see were Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and Bianca Andreescu. However, the match that surprised him the most featured Frances Tiafoe taking on the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The 12th-ranked Auger-Aliassime took the match in four sets, but Tiafoe caught Melfort’s attention.

“That was one of the best matches we got to see that week,” he said. “We saw a lot of great ones at the Open, but that was the best one by far.”

One thing that stood out to Melfort was that Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadium had a different feel as the day progressed. During the day, he found he was surrounded by the more traditional tennis crowd. Under the lights, the crowd became more of a general “sports crowd,” according to Melfort.

“The whole atmosphere of the night crowd was totally different,” he said. “You can tell by the etiquette; like how they’ll clap at double faults and errors. I would say the night had a little more excitement.”

Now that he’s attended the Open in person, Melfort feels the atmosphere can’t be captured with cameras. Not to mention this was the first time he had been around a large group of people since the Pandemic began.

“That’s also what made this experience good,” he said. “Having people around made it even more exciting.”

Now as Melfort gets back into the grind of coaching, he sees the game a little differently. He noticed quite a few pro players looked to their friends and family in the crowd for motivation between sets, just like what his young athletes do.

“It’s like when you’re a kid playing a junior tournament when you’re 14 years old; you’re looking through the gate for your parents in the crowd for extra motivation,” he said.