QUIET RIOT Open begins, without its usual uproar, behind closed doors
No. 1 Karolina Pliskova walked onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court at noon on Monday to pumped-in cheers for the first stadium match at the unprecedented fan-less U.S. Open.
She warmed up against Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina, music blaring. But when Pliskova whipped an ace on the first point, the stadium remained eerily dead silent.
Pliskova recorded seven aces in all to Kalinina’s zero as the No. 1 seed from the Czech Republic posted a 6-4, 6-0 quiet cakewalk over Kalinina to set the tone at the noiseless Open.
The largest roars Monday came from the jets flying over the stadium, breaking the sounds of silence — which was all the more uncomfortable after a long rally and a big point. (LaGuardia Airport is not requiring planes to alter the path to the airport in usual deference to the tournament).
After her on-court television interview, Pliskova took a ball and belted it into the empty upper deck. In a surreal setting, about 25 people were spread out in the stadium — assorted journalists and players who were popping in and out with their rackets after their practices.
After a few of Pliskova’s winners, the only sound was her coach, Daniel Valiverdu, clapping from the otherwise empty player’s box.
“I would rather have fans,’’ Pliskova said. “I didn’t know whether to cheer myself on or stay calm. We had a couple of tournaments back home and there were some fans but this was empty.’’
Pliskova was vaulted to top seed because six of the top 10 women’s players opted out, including defending champion Bianca Andreescu and the top-two ranked players, Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep.
Last week, Pliskova lost in the first round of the Open tuneup, the Western & Southern Open, played at Flushing Meadows but on the much smaller Court 17.
“I think that even I just had one match without people, I thought it quite helped me just to know how it feels,’’ Pliskova said. “It’s super huge and it still feels super empty, but I feel like there is at least a couple people watching there.”
And of course, Pliskova realizes the global audience still is watching.
“I know there have been people watching behind the camera, millions of people, my family, my friends from home,’’ she said.
While Pliskova was breaking in Ashe, Angelique Kerber, the 2016 Open champion, was the first match at silent Armstrong Stadium. The German beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-4.
“It’s not the same,” Kerber said. “I have it in mind, I’m trying to play good tennis for all of them at home.”
Kerber was doubtful she’d play this tournament in July, ready to sit out this COVID-19-wrecked season. Before Monday she hadn’t played a match in eight months when she lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open. She had barely even hit until a month ago.
“It’s a little bit weird to play without fans and without the support and without the atmosphere of the center courts,” Kerber said. “It was not so easy at the beginning, but you get used to it a little bit.”
Kristina Mladenovic, the 30th seed from France, is not having the best of times in Queens, placed in a more restrictive bubble because of her contact with Benoit Paire, disqualified after testing positive for COVID-19 Sunday. Mladenovic won her firstrounder Monday over Hailey Baptiste but didn’t enjoy it.
“The worst part and weakness of this situation is lack of crowds,’’ Mladenovic said. “It’s the most difficult thing. This big stage means so much more with the crowd. We love to share our passion, work and our emotions with the crowd. It’s very difficult in a super-quiet empty stadium. It’s the biggest adjustment we have to make. That’s what drives us at the Grand Slams. We’re used to full crowds on every court.”
There’s other differences but most players are good with it. There’s no linesmen or women other than the chair umpire — except on Ashe and Armstrong.
“I didn’t realize until you just told me,’’ Baptiste said.
And on all courts, players must pick up their own towels and not have it delivered by a ball boy or ball girl.
“I’m humble — I can pick up my towel on my own,’’ Mladenovic said.
No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas begged to differ after his 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Albert Ramos Viñola.
“That’s a big concern, because I would like to use it more often, but I can’t really because I’m disrupting my opponent’s rhythm,’’ he said.