Hotels in New York City, New York - USA

The US Open Championships , held each September at the National Tennis Center, in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, in Queens, is the top US tennis event of the year. Tickets go on sale the first week or two of June at the Tennis Center's box office (tel 718/760-6200), open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm and Sat 10am-4pm. To book by phone, call Ticketmaster (tel 866/673-6849). Promenade level at the stadium costs $22-69 (better seats can cost several hundred dollars), and seats are more expensive at night and closer to the finals. Tickets for the big matches are incredibly hard to get.

If you'd like to play , there are courts public and private all round the city, but getting on can be difficult; the former are all controlled through the City Parks department, and require a $50 permit (tel 212/360-8133). The nicest such courts are probably at Central Park, but they are also the most crowded; try Riverside Park instead. Otherwise, rates at places like Sutton East Tennis Club, York Ave and 59th Street (tel 212/751-3452) and Midtown Tennis Club, 341 8th Ave (tel 212/989-8572), can run anywhere from $30 to $90 per hour, depending on the season and time of day.