NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Tennis action gets under way today at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

WCBS 880′s Jim Smith On The Story

The U.S. Open is certainly an economic engine for restaurants and hotels, but one might not think of the benefits to a local family run garden center.

“We’re involved in pretty much all the plantings that are there, in order to hopefully make it look beautiful,” Ronald Keil told WCBS 880′s Jim Smith.

He runs the Keil Bros. Garden Center in Bayside, Queens, which has been around for more than 80 years. For the past two decades, his crews have been working most of the summer installing an enormous amount of flowers and plants at the tournament.

“Thousands. Thousands of them. Where we try to have it a little different, have it exciting, you know, exotic,” he said. “The key is to have it look good at the end of August and September.”

He said the tournament gives the business a boost, but is also a sense of pride.

“We treat it like it’s our own garden,” he said.

But what does Ronald Keil have to say about the game of tennis?

“I am a tennis fan. I, at one time, was a tennis player. But [you] get a little old for that,” he said.

What’s your favorite part of the U.S. Open? Sound off below…