After 40 years of working at the U.S. Open, Kathy Listner still gets excited before opening day.

"I can't sleep the night before," Listner said. "My husband is like, 'you do that all the time.' I'm like ramped up and ready to go."

She would have celebrated her milestone anniversary at the Open last year, but without any fans, very few employees were needed.

Spectators are back this year, so is Listner as area director of field courts. Her job is to make sure guests have a good experience here. 

"It's very exciting," said Listner. "It's good to see everybody again. Just the vibe. It's just incredible."

Listner’s full-time job is as a school teacher in Queens. She says working a couple weeks at the Open every year prepares her for a new school year by getting her back in a routine at the end of Summer.

The tennis grounds have become her second home.

"I just walk around. Somebody is like, 'oh, remember I'm from Texas,' said Listner. "And it's a TV guy or even fans come back and how's it going this year you know we missed you last year it;'s just fun, it’s just fun."

Listner is one of about 7,000 seasonal employees at the Open. The United States Tennis Association considers them the backbone of the tournament. They do everything from security to working the concessions to driving tennis players around.

Fifty percent of them are like Listner — they come back year after year. 

"It's more than a job for a lot of people," said Chris Studley, USTA senior director of event services. "It's something to look forward to at the end of Summer when you come back and you're ready to go."

About 45% of the seasonal employees come from Queens. Even with all the COVID challenges, the USTA didn’t have too much trouble filling the positions this year .

"Thankfully we got so much loyalty among people who work the event that we have been doing hiring and training all along,” said Daniel Zausner, the chief operating officer of the USTA National Tennis Center.