The U.S. Open Pool Championship has opened in Frisco. The event, previously known as the U.S. Open Nine-Ball Championship, had moved from Atlantic City.
"It feels amazing here," says Aloysius Yapp, a player from Singapore who won the 2025 event. "I'm really blessed to be back in Texas."
Yapp says Texas has a strong fan base and since players spend so much time on the road, coming to a play where they feel welcome can help them compete.
"It's tiring, to be honest, but you've got to enjoy every part of it, also," he says. "I have good travel moments, and you just try to take in all the positive."
This year's field has 256 players. Gavin Matthew, 12, is competing and from Frisco.
"It's really fun to play with tough competition," he says. "You get to play a lot of pool, and it's really fun just being in this kind of stage."
Matthew says he does not talk much about pool with his classmates. He says he spends three to six hours practicing every day, but pool has helped him learn about concepts behind subjects like geometry. He says pool has also helped him learn to plan strategies and think ahead.
"It's probably the most mental game on the planet next to chess," he says. "You have to have a good mindset, you want to think and set up your next shot."
Shane Van Boening has won the U.S. Open five times and echoes Yapp about the Texas market showing enthusiasm for pool.
"I love Texas," Van Boening, who lives in South Dakota, says. "It's going to be an exciting week, and I've heard there are a lot of fans coming. It's going to be packed."
The U.S. Open will continue through Sunday and is taking place at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center.
"We love these unique, first-time things. In the world of pool, this is a major event," says Visit Frisco's Kelly Walker. "We love that, and we also like hosting emerging sports."
FC Dallas' Toyota Stadium served as the base camp for Sweden during the World Cup, and Frisco will host the 2027 PGA Championship. Frisco launched its brand as "Sports City USA" last year.
The Frisco Roughriders are the Texas Rangers' AA affiliate, and the Dallas Cowboys relocated their headquarters and practice facility to Frisco in 2016.
"We do feel we have more than enough here to be a stand-alone destination," Walker says. "There are enough attractions, dining, indoor options in the summer, there's enough to do here just in Frisco."
Walker says the World Cup helped the city gain an international reputation as more than just a city north of Dallas. She says large events like the World Cup, U.S. Open and PGA Championship can draw crowds, but the city has more than just attractions dealing with sports.
"We hope when they're here, they'll engage with some of our unique museums, see the history of video games at the National Video Game Museum, the National Soccer Hall of Fame is down the street," she says.
Walker says part of the city's success centers on building relationships with organizations that can bring these events to Frisco. She says Frisco aims to build long-term relationships to make groups feel welcome and to show the city can host large events.
