NEW YORK (AP) – They are at the top of their sport. They are prepared to run down tennis balls. So maybe it’s only natural that about 3,000 top-flight canines converge on the grounds of the US Open tennis tournament, where the Westminster Kennel Club’s dog show began on Saturday.
It’s a new venue for the nearly 150-year-old event, now back in New York City after a two-year stint in the suburbs due to the pandemic.
As the show kicked off with an agility competition and other events on Saturday, there were a few double-takes, if not double-faults.
On the sunny, 40-acre grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the barking sounded, not the packets of tennis balls. Westminster’s traditional green carpet had been rolled out at Arthur Ashe Stadium for fleet-footed – but four-footed – competitors.
Dogs relaxed in their crates at a tented training ground. The fan-friendly South Plaza was set up with a 27,000-gallon (102,200-liter) pool for a dog-dock diving demonstration. Turn in any direction and probably some kind of dog would come by.
“It’s kind of weird to see them out and about in a place where you don’t normally see dogs,” said viewer Haili Menard as she watched on the dock looking for clues about her Dalmatian at home in Bristol, Connecticut. Menard has been to the US Open but has never been to the Westminster show.
“The sport is highlighted by the environment,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fletcher the Malinois took the plunge.
“We’ll never get to Westminster any other way,” laughed owner Jenine Wech of Schellsburg, Pennsylvania. When Fletcher isn’t dock diving or doing other sports, he works as a bug sniffer.
Stella competed in agility competitions in 2021 but was back on Saturday when dock diving, her favorite sport for blowing off steam, caught a toe in the waters of Westminster.
“The experience is so nice to come with your dog… and even just show off a healthy bulldog,” said owner Lucy Hayes of Dayton, Ohio, who taught Stella to swim years ago (she dives in a life jacket for safety).
For most of its history, Westminster has been held in Manhattan, where generations of the finest show dogs have been anointed at Madison Square Garden. To hold the event outdoors during the COVID-19 crisis, organizers have relocated it to the grounds of an estate in suburban Tarrytown, New York, for the past two years.
The club attempted to return to New York City while evaluating factors such as construction plans for a Manhattan Pier building that used to host part of the show. As an alternative, the tennis center was created.
In addition to hosting a tennis Grand Slam tournament, the Queens facility has attempted to position itself as a flexible, festive venue in recent years. It’s embraced wrestling, video games, and BIG3 3-on-3 basketball competitions, and embraced letting dogs have their day.
“From the biggest stars in tennis to the biggest stars in the canine world,” said Chris Studley, the facility’s senior director of events services. Westminster President Donald Sturz was equally optimistic about the prospect of “an iconic dog show in an iconic location”.
Certainly, Manhattan held a certain appeal for some attendees who traveled from across the country. But the spacious tennis center makes it possible to hold all events in one place, add new ones and give dogs and people more freedom of movement.
While dogs aren’t typically the main attraction at tennis centers, there are many players who have been known to take their pooches on tour.
Serena Williams had a pitchside pooch at Arthur Ashe Stadium while she was training ahead of last year’s US Open, her final event before retirement. Her older sister Venus has also been spotted competing with a dog. Biana Andreescu’s pet Coco is often found in the stands with Andreescu’s mother during games. Alexander Zverev adopted a dog in Miami a few years ago before the Miami Open.
Some vendors had tennis balls on hand Saturday, but dogs like Leslie Wilk had other activities in mind. The border collie/Staffordshire bull terrier mix zipped through the agility course as if determined to live up to their Champion name.
“Every time her turn comes around,” said Wilk of Camarillo, California, “she just does her best.”
Think of it that way, and the tennis center’s human and canine athletes aren’t that different.
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AP tennis writer Howard Fendrich contributed from Washington. New York-based Associated Press journalist Jennifer Peltz has covered the Westminster dog show since 2013.