Is it possible to compare the ATP's fourth and final major event of the tennis season, the U.S. Open, to one of Northeast Ohio's most attended 3.0 events of the tennis season, the Green Open Championships?
Probably not.
So let's give it a go!
First, age. The U.S. Open is the second oldest Major in professional tennis (i.e., for this discussion we here at DFO consider any NTRP rating above 3.5 to be among the professional echelons). Whoa! Starting in 1881, the U.S. Open is up there in age, whereas the Green Open Championships (or the GOC, if you will) began in but 2018. However, the GOC is the second oldest tournament currently held during the 3.0 summer swing, sooooooo ... yes! Both the U.S. Open and the GOC are equal in terms of age. Sorta.
Second, timing. The U.S. Open is, during non-pandemic times anyway, the final Major of the year. The GOC, by contrast is directly in the middle of the 3.0 tour* season, as it's after the Paramount Winter Championships (PWC) held in January and the Akron Open (AO) held in July but before the Paramount Fall Championships (PFC), Perrysburg Open Championships (POC), and the Wooster Aspen Championships (WAC), all held in September. However, word has it that neither the PFC nor the POC are being held this year. Hmmm. So that leaves the WAC, but as the WAC is only in it's second year and at this writing is still a question mark in terms of taking place, that means ... YES! Both the U.S. Open and the GOC are equal in terms of timing! Kinda.
Third, courts. Well ... HERE WE GO! Both are held outside ... on hard courts! BOOM! (We didn't even have to stretch for this one) Indeed, the PWC, WAC, and PFC are all held indoor while the AO, at least this year, was also held indoor, meaning the GOC is the only outdoor, hard court, summer tournament on the 3.0 tour*! Just like - if you keep all the qualifiers we just wrote in the previous sentence - the U.S. Open! Relatively, anyway.
Fourth, attention. 23. Twenty three 3.0 players participated in the 2019 rendition of the GOC. Let that sink in! By contrast, the more established 3.0 Majors*, the PFC (17), AO (12), and the PWC (12), had far fewer entries (and if you add in the smaller tournaments on the 3.0 tour*, like the AOS (8), WAC (4), and the POC (3), the GOC looks even more impressive). What's this all mean, well, by a lot of metrics (that I read in this totally unrelated article), the U.S. Open is the second most prestigious Major on tour. Well, while the GOC may not have the history of the other Majors* on the 3.0 tour*, it certainly seems to have the prestige, making it so similar to the U.S. Open that it's almost impossible to tell them apart! Sorta kinda ... depending on your lens.
Well, our lens is half-full, so in our view, YES, we can - and did - compare the U.S. Open to the GOC!
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