Since this tournament is only a $220K overall purse with $39K to the winner, I didn't expect to see the high intensity playing and world class name draw that a WTA Level 1 event would draw. So, my expectations were on level with the type of event I was planning on seeing.
With that being said, I sort of did expect to see some of the best in the world really grinding it out and fighting hard for every point a week before the US Open. Instead, what we got were to fairly lack luster routine wins in the quarterfinals. Tournament officials can't help that. The results are what they are.
Now, if the match play were the only problem, I would definitely come back next year. In fact, I would even buy more tickets to more matches. Really, the problem is that the overall production of the tournament seems, well, amateurish.
Let's start off with the grounds. To get any real food or relief from the heat you needed to walk all the way down a quite steep hill away from the stadium and grand stand courts.
Then, there was the stadium court where I paid a premium price to get first row reserved seating (one level up from the box seating). The view for the entire first and second row was obstructed by four thick metal bars providing railing so no one would "fall off" into the box seats. Seriously? Has no one heard of plexiglass, or even ROPE! I spent most of the first two matches sitting on the floor or huntching to get an unobstructed view. By the time the third match started enough people had left that I could move up a few rows. I will never pay for that again!
Poor ball kids were wearing this HIDEOUS green outfits with a yellow strip down the middle or sides that showed every drop of their sweat and were WAY too baggy on most of the kids. Seriously people, it's AUGUST IN TEXAS. These kids should have been wearing breathable white outfits. I expect the players to be drenched in sweat and panting, not the ball kids.
Ushers did not a do a good job managing when customers were allowed to their seats. I don't know if they didn't understand by tour level events do not stop play after the first game. The players change ends, but there's really no break until the first three games are played. The beginning of each match had the umpire calling for "fans to take their seats quickly".
The bleacher set up was also another idea that wasn't quite thought through all the way. People were constantly kicking over bottles and cans underneath where the item would fall 20 - 50 feet and land with a crash right in the middle of the point. Some padding down there would have helped alleviate that.
On a final note, and this is a personal gripe, to not allow fans to bring in their own WATER during this time of the year is absolutely criminal. You don't want me to bring a picnic basket worth of food. Ok. I get that. But geez, I can't bring in my own thermos full of nice cold ice water and you make me pay $4 for a 12 oz bottled water that gets warm in 5 minutes. Criminal.
Unless this tournament is held in a different venue, I will not be coming back next year.