The U.S. Open Costs $236,000 a Day With Mercedes, Nice Seats - By Philip Boroff

Courtside seats at Sunday’s men’s singles final at New York’s U.S. Open go for as much as $5,300 via Ticketexchange, a division of Ticketmaster. (Plus an $800 service charge.)

Women’s final courtside tickets tonight are more widely available, starting at about $700, via Ticketmaster.

Cheapskates endure a love-hate relationship with the Open - - loving the tennis and carping about prices, including $3.75 for a tiny Evian bottle.

Big spenders, though, can get really happy here. A lot of damage can be done in a few hours of conspicuous consumption.

Enticed by a $1,000 discount offered by local Mercedes-Benz dealers, my first stop was the $183,000 silver SLS AMG sports car, on view by the Open’s East gate.

Some 10,000 people have allowed themselves to be photographed with the car at the Open. (The shots are retrieved online, in exchange for providing Mercedes with your e-mail.) With gullwing doors, it has a look James Bond could love.

A few paces away, a volunteer from the United States Tennis Association detailed the terms of Open immortality. He pointed to tiles on the ground of the plaza with names of donors to “USTA Serves.” It provides scholarships to middle school and high school students, among other deeds.

The top tiles, 16-inch squares of white bronze, go for $25,000. Audio equipment mogul Sidney Harman, the new owner of Newsweek, sprung for one with his wife, Jane, a California congresswoman.

Dress Like Roger

While duplicating Roger Federer’s forehand is impossible, replicating his outfit is easier.

Nike’s outpost sells Federer’s collared shirts and shorts, which end just above the knees; plus sneakers artfully depicting New York’s skyline over the heel. Rafael Nadal’s uniform is more informal, with shorts below the knees and neon sneakers.

The two getups run a total of just over $600.

As an investment, player autographs can be dubious. Federer, for one, patiently dilutes the market when encountering fans outside Ashe Stadium. Mementos do evoke our shared history. The Ace Authentic Collectibles kiosk has them in abundance.

For the budget-minded, there are tennis trading cards, modeled after baseballs cards. Four cards per $3 pack -- with surprise autographs and bits of player clothing.

Then there’s a wall mounting of champions Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Federer and Bjorn Borg, including a picture of them taken last year at Wimbledon clutching a trophy, with balls autographed by each. It goes for about $1,200.

Ashe Endowment

The Arthur Ashe Endowment for the Defeat of AIDS is auctioning a jumbo tennis ball, signed by Federer and others, which as of Wednesday required a minimum bid of $600. Among other tasks, the endowment annually brings eight doctors to New York who do AIDS work in their home countries, training them in the latest clinical techniques. It was started in 1995, two years after Ashe died of pneumonia, a complication of AIDS.

“AIDS doesn’t have the same consciousness and urgency in this country that it once had,” said Leslie Allen, a former world No. 18 singles player who manages the booth.

For nourishment, I sampled Aces Restaurant on the “club” level of Ashe Stadium, adjacent to suites that accommodate 20 people and that the Open sold for $10,000 to $65,000 a session. I sustained myself with a $12 heirloom tomato salad and $28 Scottish salmon. Monitors at the bar showed live tennis on center court without commercials.

Silk Rug

The last stop was the Silver Tennis Collection shop on the club level, next to Aces. A rare 1998 Jack Kramer Autograph graphite racket costs $6,000; a silk tennis-themed rug was tagged at $15,000 and there’s tennis jewelry. One-third of proceeds go to USTA Serves.

After spending a theoretical $236,000 on my spree -- skimming the surface of goods advertised and sold at the Open -- I bought a salmon-and-blue striped tie, embossed with gold, wood rackets.

It cost $65.