The US Open seems a bit closed

Kristie Ahn tried to block the din.

It was Saturday afternoon of last year’s Labor Day weekend and Ahn, 27, a graduate of Stanford of New Jersey, was on the court of the United States Open Grandstand upsetting former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach the round of 16 at a major for the first time.

After serving an ace to end the 6-3, 7-5 win, Ahn burst into tears and finally allowed himself time to immerse himself in the adoration that comes with being a local hero at the US Open.

“The crowd was crazy,” Ahn said as he prepared to return to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for this year’s heavily modified Open. “Sad it won’t be the same, but I will always have that great memory.”

The 2020 Open, which starts on Monday, is moving forward on time this year, albeit with drastic changes due to the pandemic. With no spectators, far fewer competing players, smaller support staff, and no smell of burgers and fries from the food court, the tournament can feel more closed than open.

“One of my favorite things to do was stand close to the East Gate at 9:30 am on opening day and watch tens of thousands of people pouring in,” said Danny Zausner, chief operating officer of the National Tennis Center. , which was turned into a field hospital in the spring for coronavirus patients. “There’s a big difference between hearing sirens and seeing ambulances and watching enthusiastic tennis fans.”

Since its inception in 1881, the United States Nationals, now US Open, unlike the other three majors, has never been canceled. Wimbledon, the oldest of the Grand Slam tournaments, as well as what are now known as the French and Australian Open, were all stopped during both world wars.

But after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt decreed that organized sports like baseball, tennis, and college football would serve as morale boosters for Americans. So, the US Nationals played.

Even when the coronavirus hit New York City, and Queens in particular, in March, United States Tennis Association officials were optimistic about hosting this year’s Open.

“I never lost faith that we would have the Open,” Zausner said, although he admitted the changes left him uncomfortable, including the fact that only adults served as the ball.

“I can’t help but think of the 14-year-old boy who missed the cut last year but grew a couple of centimeters over the winter and couldn’t wait to try again,” he said. said. “A lot of people are getting lost.”

The most notable omission will be the nearly 750,000 spectators from around the world who run around the fields in search of the best matches, their favorite players or a souvenir shirt.

There’s no longer any fan crush with their noses pressed against the fence, waiting for Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka or 16-year-old Coco Gauff to come out of the training grounds, pose for a selfie or sign their giant yellow tennis ball. There will be no bellowing as a favorite player emerges at Arthur Ashe Stadium for a night game that could extend into the early morning.

Also missing from this year’s Open are some of the best women in the game: # 1 Ashleigh Barty, # 2 Simona Halep, reigning champion Bianca Andreescu, Elina Svitolina, Kiki Bertens and Belinda Bencic.

Many of the best men won’t play either, including defending champion Rafael Nadal, five-time winner Roger Federer, Gael Monfils and 2016 champion Stan Wawrinka. Federer and Andreescu are repairing knee injuries, but the others have turned down due to travel problems. The Bryan brothers, 42-year-old twins Mike and Bob, abandoned their plan to end their career at the Open and announced their retirement on Thursday.

With no reigning champions playing, this creates opportunities for others, such as for Karolina Pliskova and Dominic Thiem, to win their first Grand Slam title. Or for Djokovic and Sofia Kenin to win their second straight. (They won the Australian Open in February.) Or for Serena Williams who eventually equalized Margaret Court’s 24 majors record.

Players located in New York have undergone a Covid-19 testing program before entering the tightly controlled area between the Tennis Center and player quarters, which is designed to mitigate the possibility of infection. Testing will continue throughout the tournament and anyone infected will be forced to retire.

Most of the contestants stay in either of Long Island’s two hotels, although a handful of players, such as Djokovic and Williams, have opted for private accommodation where they have to pay for a USTA-approved security guard to monitor their way. Go. No player is allowed to travel anywhere except between accommodation and the tournament.

This Open will look different for everyone. The qualifying, mixed doubles, juniors and legends races are over. Wheelchair tennis was also briefly scrapped but, after a protest, it was restored. Instead of winning players slapping autographed tennis balls to fans on the stadium’s upper deck, they will be looking to hit goals, with the money from sponsors going to Rally to Rebuild, a USTA charity. There will also be a virtual opening night event and pre-match virtual coin flips featuring previous US Open champions in honor of healthcare professionals.

With fewer players, the tournament will only use 13 of the 18 traditional courts, not including the Grandstand. Each of these fields, with the exception of Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums, will be free of people on the line, replaced by Hawk-Eye Live, an automated system that uses technology to call lines.

To reinforce the social distance between players and their now limited teams, competitors are allowed minimal time in the locker rooms, training facilities and on-site gym. The first 32 suits were given one of the luxury suites surrounding Arthur Ashe Stadium to use as a private lounge. And the South Plaza, with its fountain that lights up at night, has been transformed into a playground, with basketball hoops and minigolf, all with an eye to keeping people out and away from each other. .

“A tremendous amount of work went into establishing this protocol,” said Micky Lawler, president of the Women’s Tennis Association, who has been negotiating for months on behalf of her players. “They had to build a system from scratch involving everyone from food service providers and chauffeurs to gamers and security guards. So far, they’ve beaten the odds. “

To compensate for the lack of live spectators, a sound system will provide background noises and cheers derived from matches played in 2019. The court-side seats have been covered with canvas tarps adorned with works of art painted by black artists to celebrate the Black Lives Matter movement.

“With an empty stadium, we have a tremendous opportunity to show the game from a different perspective,” said Jamie Reynolds, ESPN’s vice president of production. “Tennis is a geometric sport. By bringing the cameras further down the bowl, we can deconstruct the game from many different angles.

“The challenge for ESPN is how close we can get to players to convey what the Grand Slam tennis experience is like in 2020,” added Reynolds, who plans to give players cell phones to allow them to use Skype for interviews.

“I’m not worried about the action.” He said. “I’m worried about the entertainment value.”

“As Billie Jean King once said, ‘The champions adapt,'” said 40-year-old Venus Williams, a two-time race champion in her 22 years in the United States. Open. “I am just grateful to be able to play professional sports right now. I am grateful to the fans and I will miss them desperately. I don’t think anyone will ever take fans for granted again. “