Brian Laird on WNYC, and in our last few minutes, we'll wrap up today's show with calls from you tennis fans out there on the increased popularity of your sport as the U.S. Open heads into the

home stretch at the Tennis Center in Flushing. Have you become a tennis fan in the last few years?

Call us if so and tell us what got you into the sport. 212-433 WNYC, 212, 433-92, or long-time fans, you can call in too and say if you've been enjoying this

year's U.S. Open, and if you think the sport is getting more popular for any particular reason,

212-433-9692. Reporting from the New York Times found combined day and night attendance on Monday through

Friday last week averaged just over 75,000 fans per day, making last week the top five most

attended days in the tournament's history. And at that rate, the U.S. Open might see

over a million people total at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center through the course

of the whole competition. I mean, the Mets get two and a half million people. Over the course of

six months, the Yankees is about three million. They're getting a million people in two weeks

for this. And if that

doesn't tell you that more people are clamoring to see tennis live, consider this. While the

Times reported on the big crowds, CNN had a story yesterday about a cocktail being sold at the U.S.

Open that will surpass $10 million in sales before the tournament ends on Sunday.

The honey deuce, a mix of vodka, lemonade, and a raspberry liqueur, plus its signature melon balls, as it's described, is selling for a whopping $23.

You do get a commemorative cup with it, but $23 for a drink,

yet despite the price tag, 2.2 million of them had already sold before yesterday's matches

began according to CNN.

So listeners, have you gotten into tennis?

More recently, are you part of the surge in popularity?

If so, tell us what got you into it.

212-433, WNYC, 433-9-692.

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