Hidden Courts & Open Dreams: How the US Open and the Hamptons Reignited My Tennis Obsession

slamreads

Sep 8

Welcome back to SLAMT. Or at least, I hope this really is a welcome back. Life has thrown me a mix of ups and downs lately, but one constant has been the steady evolution of my passion for tennis. It’s what pulled me back to write today — about something unexpected, something I never thought I’d find.

US Open Nostalgia

It’s Monday, September 8th. Just weeks after the US Open, the city feels quieter, almost nostalgic. The men’s final ended with a commanding and well-earned win for Carlos Alcaraz, who reclaimed the No.1 ranking and added $5 million to his name. On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka cemented her dominance with a back-to-back US Open win, her first major of the year. Powerful, relentless — though still sometimes too friendly with the net.

Watching it all left me inspired, but my own tennis story this summer started before the Open even began.

**From Remote Work to the Hamptons**
In late August, I quit a brand-new remote contract and headed east to help my stepdad with his landscaping business. A complete shift: from sitting in front of a screen all day to digging into soil, arranging plants, and thinking through design projects.
Landscaping, I discovered, is an art form. And in the Hamptons, where the backdrop is already a movie set of oversized homes and manicured lawns, that art reaches another level. Behind every tall hedge and perfectly trimmed fence, there’s a hidden paradise. And more often than not — a tennis court.

The Hidden Courts of the Hamptons

From a distance, tennis courts all look the same: green rectangles, white lines, a net across the middle. But once you start noticing the landscaping around them — flower arrangements, natural textures, trees casting just the right shade — you realize each one is a hidden gem.

These courts aren’t just places to play. They’re curated spaces. Art pieces. Sanctuaries where deer wander by mid-match. They deserve to remain somewhat hidden, reserved for the lucky few who stumble across them. Exclusivity, in this case, preserves beauty.

I haven’t fully launched this project yet, but I feel the pull to document these courts — to show how sport and design meet in ways that are rarely seen.

August in New York Tennis

August in New York is the best kind of tennis month: crisp evenings, sun-kissed days, and nonstop energy. Between matches of my own, I collaborated with Palmes and the ATP on their pop-up — another reminder of how tennis culture is growing off-court as well as on it.

And then, of course, came the US Open. The intensity. The late-night thrillers. The sparks of rivalry. Every year it reignites my passion for this game, and this year more than ever, it reminded me why I love writing about sports and lifestyle in the first place.