From the court-covered green of Bryant Park to the vista of city lights from the rooftop of the Skyline Gallery, sponsors like DIRECTV, Nike and K-Swiss brought the pros and fans together to kick off the U.S.  Open.

By Liza Horan

The lines of the U.S. Open main draw haven't even been filled in, but the tournament and its top players already have a choke-hold on the Big Apple.

Most fans will get a taste of America's Grand Slam through the Internet and television, some lucky fans will get tickets to see live action at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and the smallest amount of fans (who may consider themselves the luckiest fans) are those who are getting to see the top players live and up-close around the city.

Today's action amid the street of Manhattan—no ticket required—included appearances by Roger Federer, Serena and Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal, James Blake, Victoria Azarenka, and many others. Here is a rundown of Unofficial Day One of the U.S. Open.*

To see minute-by-minute happenings of Unofficial Day Two/Three/Four/Five, stay tuned to http://twitter.com/tenniswire.

DIRECTV and ESPN hijack the heart of Manhattan by laying down two full-size courts and bleachers in Bryant Park. Inside the Bryant Park Grill, too many photographers and lots of reporters line the red carpet for the likes of (in order) Vica Azarenka, Murphy Jensen, Bud Collins, Luke Jensen, Justin Gimelstob, Mary Joe Fernandez, James Blake, Serena Williams and Venus Williams.
What follows is what I'll term a "Tweet Sandwich": Selected messages interspered with meatier bits. (Original tweets unedited.)

9.54 a.m. Tenniswire tweets the US Open starting today! Heading to Bryant park for DirecTVs free bash. Stay tuned...

While we were in the shadow of the DIRECTV blimp on 42nd St., exactly 20 blocks downtown in the shadow of the Flatiron Building, Roger Federer was prepping for the debut of his Nike RF apparel for the US Open. The full-size court and fan stands closed off part of Broadway to crazed fans' delight.

As he stepped out in his red and black ensemble, Azarenka (right) took to the red carpet up in midtown. The press crowd thickened and the air conditioning thinned...

10:34 a.m. V Azarenka says she loves Us Open crowd & excitement; hates traffic. Loves world cuisine here: ate Russian Monday pm & Japanese tuesday pm.
10:37 a.m. James blake is on the red carpet. Gimelstob, too.
10: 38 a.m. Gimelstob is getting interviewed By Maxim. He says "I pay for maxim". They're negotiating a freelance writing deal!
10:59 a.m. James Blake is wearing his new Fila kit, which launches tomorrow. The Thomas Reynolds collection is named after his father.

As Blake came down the carpet, the reporter next to me asked if he had a girlfriend. He admitted so and, when she pressed him, said rather nicely, "Yes, she an everyday, wonderful girl...whose name doesn't need to be in the tabloids."

I asked him about another woman in his life—Betty Blake, his mother—and did he know she is speaking on a panel along with the mothers of Sam Querrey and Bob and Mike Bryan?

Oh yeah, he said, and elaborated on how "she's not a typical tennis parent." More on this in a separate story.

FINALLY, Serena took the carpet, and seemed to have a lot of fun with it. Venus not so much.

The paparazzi was there. Elbows and jostling everywhere. The tennis photogs were a tad more sedate (could I say 'civilized'?). Longtime photographer Art Seitz is the paparrazziest of the tennis shooters—has four tennis pix coming out in People, he said—yet he seemed like a kitten (okay, lion cub) next to some others. The razzis are hunters on the prowl and determination bags the money shots (not necessarily friends).

I asked Serena how she manages to stay focused on tennis when she undoubtedly gets tons of social invitations whenever she's in NYC. "It is soooooo hard," she said. Yet she makes it look so easy, eh?

She was sporting a black hobo pocketbook. I took the bait—she gushed about how it is from her own design collection. It has a gold-tone impressionistic heart on the clasp and a black-on-black pattern fabric trimmed with leather.

11:49 a.m. Leaving Venus & Serena on red carpet—got what I need—to jump on press cal w/Navratilova & Connors, tennis channel commenters. Need shade!
12:09 p.m. Jimmy connors' fave usopen moment: "all of 'em. And I mean that with respect." a court is a court,but "the fans make that event what it is."
12:14 p.m. Coffee break at my fave, Le Pain Quotidien, on south side of Bryant park. Gotta stay charged on 1st day of my Open. Join me now! In back.

After hustling downtown to recharge the iPhone, I swung over to the Nike event where Serena and Rafael Nadal were appearing. Next to the perfectly drab Flatiron Building sandstone and the black Nike set-up, her hot pink top and shoes (white tennis pom-pom socks) and his saturated yellow and blue shocked electric. Very Cool. Beautiful People.

However, the TV and photogs here were worse. Near mosh pit.

2:34 p.m. Mmmmmassive crush of fans at flatiron Nike event trying to get close to rafa. He managed to escape, & impressively, with a smile.
2:36 p.m. Watch CNN later for one-on-one with pink-ified Serena.

Alright, back to HQ.

5:30 p.m. just wrapped exclusive interview w/AmericanExpress, 16yr partner of USOpen. "5 Questions With..." runs next week.
5:37 p.m. Venus is receiving award from the Anti-Defamation League tonight for standing up for Israeli Shahar Peer's right for a visa to play Dubai.

Stamina on court is something you can train for, but I wonder about off-court, sponsor appearance-type stamina. These top players seem to manage.

6:20 p.m. RT ("retweet") @andyroddick His Thursday: practice 9:30am, throw 1st pitch @ Yankee Stadium, film Letterman, then TasteofTennis. All in a days' work...

7:09 p.m. Heading to kswiss runway show for spring/summer 2010...

Skater-fashion-music-urban crowd. The green carpet was trod upon by models, stylists, Anna Kournikova in five-inch heels and Vera Zvonareva, whose prime modeling accessory was her Prince racquet.

This was an all-out fashion show with live DJ, rows of onlooks, a maelstrom of photographers at the head of the catwalk and smooth moves. In the front row were buyers Joan and Woody from Grand Central Racquet—and now NYC Racquet Sports at 157A West 35th St. [Fan Alert! John McEnroe's signing autographs there on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and Paul-Henri Mathieu's turn is at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Sorana Cristea fans can meet her at Mason's Tennis (56 East 53rd St.) on Friday at 3 p.m. and meet Fernando Gonzalez on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.]

Details on K-Swiss' California Sports Collection to come in a separate story.

9:05 p.m.: just interviewed Anna k. Will miss Open as a fan to compete in run of a triathlon for Team KSwiss in Cali. Was relaxed&brite on catwalk

Party moves to the rooftop where no one seems to mind the rain. Even the woman in the silk dress who got the dancing started. 

*Most people take the U.S. Open's "Day One" to mean the first day of main draw play, in this case on Monday, Aug. 31; purists like Bill Mountford insist that it is the first day of the qualifying tournament, which was yesterday. No one has laid claim to the Unofficial Day One, until now. I do hope 'tis not a bone of contention, nor a bone of any sort.