Nestled into the shadows of the Demon Deacon’s football stadium, lies the Winston-Salem Open. While the tournament has a rich history going back to the early 80s, the current rendition has been located in North Carolina since 2011. Being placed a week before the US Open tends to limit the amount of players wanting to participate, but this year’s showcased the strongest field in recent memory. Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon, and Kevin Anderson bolstered the field with their top twenty rankings. Young upstarts Thanasi Kokkinakis, Hyeon Chung, Frances Tiafoe, and Jared Donaldson were looking to prove themselves this week as well. No matter what flavor of tennis you enjoy, this was a player field to be excited about.

This weekend I traveled up to my northern neighboring state to experience my first men’s tournament. Immediately, I was struck by how close all the courts were to each other.  As…