It happens just once a year, during the fortnight that ushers Summer out and Autumn into the Big Apple.

And so I arrived at the U.S. Open expecting to see a huge build-out. An ocean of tents and similar hospitality structures. Maybe I was in the wrong part of the sizable Billie Jean King National Tennis Center complex. Because what I saw was a permanent structure, complete with fountains and a food court that would make the Mall of America sit up and take notice. Very little of it was of the temporary construction variety that would be taken down and spirited away in the aftermath of the tournament. Which made me wonder…what else is this place used for? Other sporting events? Concerts? Amway sales conventions?

So I did a little asking around. It turns out…not much.

Unless of course you take into account that the entire magnificent complex, with its 22 courts inside the gates and 11 in the surrounding park is open to the public year-round, weather permitting. That is of course when it’s not busy hosting one of the two most visible tennis tournaments in the world.

That’s right – for less than $20 an hour, you can play where some of the greatest players in the world have competed. Sort of like teeing it up at Augusta National Golf Club – except for the year-round part. Or the inexpensive part. And oh yeah, there’s that “don’t you peasants even think about sullying our lawn” thing. OK, bad analogy.

But you get my point – this is a public jewel actually built for and used by the public. The USTA just pays rent. A lot of rent. But they get a lot of stadium for their money.

When I entered Arthur Ashe Stadium with old friend Feesh and his magazine cover family, I literally blinked at its size. While at the court level it’s much cozier than it appears on television, from a vertical standpoint it far exceeded my expectations. The capacity of the stadium is listed at 23,200, but the attendance that night was announced at 23,815. Keep in mind that’s almost 24,000 people gathered around a playing surface that’s a mere 78’ by 36’. The only way that a decent viewing experience can possibly be accommodated for all is through sheer height.

The main bowl around the court is pretty much all you see on TV, but stretching up beyond that are two club levels, a loge section and an upper deck (which is the largest of the seating areas). And perched across the top of one end of this is a press box that rivals that of an NFL stadium. The Grand Canyon is only slightly more steeply banked than this stadium.

We arrived at the tail end of a match in which Maria Sharipova broke nary a bead of sweat in dispatching Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-2. It took just 32 minutes. Sharipova struck me as being much taller than she appears on television – and a little more world-weary.

As she was being interviewed on court after her win, I couldn’t help thinking that she looked and sounded like she’d rather be pretty much anywhere else. I remembered a television segment that I’d seen on her a few years back, in which she categorically stated that being a tennis star was not what she lived for, and that she would probably retire early. And the kicker? That interview had been filmed when she was 14 or 15 years old. Now at the age of 23 years, she is an old soul, for sure.

In the featured men’s singles match, German Philipp Petzschner came in as a decided underdog to third-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic. He had a golden opportunity to steal the first set though, which he frittered away – eventually losing 7-5 when he allowed his final service to be easily broken.

Late in that first set, a fight broke out in the upper deck. Yes, a fight. At a tennis match. I wondered what in the world could possibly arouse enough passion about a second-round tennis match to spark a fight, but Feesh just waved it off and said “It’s New York. Somebody probably looked the wrong way at somebody else.” Which, we came to find out the next day is pretty much exactly what happened.

Although the ruckus high above didn’t seem to faze either player, a general lapse in concentration marked the entire evening’s play for Petzschner. He looked like he had all of the shots, but just…didn’t get around to making them most of the time. He appeared far more interested in winning on style, attempting a lot of elegant finesse shots when some good old-fashioned baseline slamming was in order.

Ragged play marked the first two sets, which Djokovic won 7-5 and 6-3. And fisticuffs aside, up to that point there was precious little to get the crowd excited. In the third set though, things got spirited. Emotion on the part of both Petzschner and Djokovic was suddenly on display, and the fans began to feed off of that.

Rallies got longer and winning shots more impressive – but unfortunately the number of unforced errors didn’t diminish. Far more points were lost rather than won. After one particularly painful shot that he left in the net, Petzschner swatted the ball into the fourth deck in frustration.

Perhaps he should have done that earlier because that outburst, when the set was tied 3-3, gave way to his best play of the night. Although nobody in the place entertained the notion that he could come all the way back and win the match, people seemed to be rooting hard for Petzschner to force a fourth set, despite the late hour. But it was not to be. Having forced a tiebreak during which Petzschner took a 4-3 lead, he got a little too cute with his shots and wound up losing the tiebreak 8-6. And the match, in straight sets.

For his part, Djokovic remained unflappable throughout, and proved to be a great post-match interview as well. He was asked if he had been distracted by the fight in the stands and he said “I was just hoping it wasn’t a Serb”.

Then, when asked if he was working on a Roger Federer style between-the-legs shot, he said without missing a beat, “No, I already have something else between my legs.” That brought what remained of the house down, which he exacerbated by slyly wrapping a towel around his waist.

As Feesh might say “It’s New York”.