Courts, Characters And a Love Of a Game.

The United States Open starts on Monday, beginning two weeks of elite tennis, expensive eating and celebrity sightings. The rest of the year, though, another kind of tennis tournament unspools in New York's public parks -- a less structured, less moneyed daily draw that pulls people of all ages and skills onto all or some of the 595 public courts in the five boroughs. Earl Wilson has hit on many of those courts for more than 35 years, refining his ground strokes, running down drop shots and taking his lumps, all the while cataloging his finest moments and the most dubious of court characters. What appears below is some reminiscing, a mix of romance and regret. FINDING A GAME [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]