U.S. Open survival guide for fans

Tennis, anyone? The U.S. Open is the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world. M. David Leeds/Getty Images Jon Wertheim's Mailbag Jon Wertheim will answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag every Wednesday. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Jon Wertheim on Twitter

Jon, I am heading to the U.S. Open for the first time this year. Any tips or hints to pass on?
-- Corey Huber, Regina, Saskatchewan

Herewith, 20 tips, culled from previous columns with a few new ones thrown in:

• Take either the much-maligned No. 7 train or -- better still -- the Long Island Railroad from Manhattan, which is 15 minutes from Penn Station. If you insist on private transportation, take a cab over a car service, which drops you off somewhere near Canarsie. At the risk of sounding like a tourist bureau PR flack, you'll be surprised how civil and efficient the trains are.

• Buy a daily program when you walk in.

• First week especially, take the grounds pass over reserved seating in Ashe.

• Watch at least one match on the Grandstand court.

• Complain at least once about the absence of intimacy in Arthur Ashe Stadium. And complain at least twice about the landed gentry in the luxury suites who have prime seats yet have their backs turned away from the court as they discuss their floundering portfolios in air-conditioned suites.

• Arrive early and spend, say, half an hour watching players practice. It's weirdly mesmerizing and you can learn an awful lot about players watching them hit balls for 20 minutes.

• Wear sunscreen.

• Watch the top-seeded player in the boys' and girls' singles draw. One day soon they're likely to play on the big stages.

• Watch Fabrice Santoro. Luckily for us (and unluckily for him) he drew Andy Roddick in round one this year.

• If you walk by a scoring console and see that any match is deep in the fifth set (or third set for women), watch the conclusion, regardless of whether you've heard of either player. It will give you a good sense of just how brutal tennis can be.

• Yes, you're important. In your absence, your office could be rocked to its foundations. But switch your damn cell phone to vibrate.

• Ignore the imperious attitude of the ushers. They're not representative of New Yorkers. And they're just doing their jobs.

• Bring a book/crossword puzzle/date to pass the time during changeovers.

• Hydrate. What's that you say, a small Evian bottle costs an extortionate $3.75? Bring your own bottles and fill them up at the dozens of drinking fountains in the grounds.

• It's hidden near the indoor facility but check out the U.S. Open bookstore.

• As for eating ... Maybe it's desensitization to overpriced ballpark food or New York prices in general. Maybe it's these inflationary times, when filling up your car requires a financing plan. But the food court fare -- once the subject of so much derision -- no longer seems so overpriced. And it's quite good. (Thankfully, the Indian joint is back in 2008!)

• Alternatively, check out some of the restaurants in Flushing Chinatown. You can walk there or take the No. 7 train one additional stop.

• Watch some doubles. They do this crazy, old-fashioned thing with the ball, hitting it out of the air. Volleying, I think they call it.

• Avoid dressing like a player -- unless you have a match that day.

• Too late this year, but check out the qualifying event in 2009. Admission is free, the quality of tennis is high and tension is higher.

• I'm serious about the sunscreen.