The public address system thundered “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses as two sheepish tennis players emerged from behind a cloud of machine-made smoke, only to be greeted by roughly 50 fans sitting quietly at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
This was no jungle. It was the first day of the New York Open, the newest men’s tennis tournament on the ATP calendar and an event that seemed to be largely ignored by most people in the area.
With many matches played during the day during work and school hours, and with the Olympics and even baseball’s spring training soaking up much of the attention in the sporting landscape, it was a challenge for a new and relatively unknown tournament to gain traction.