Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates during the US Open mens singles second round match against Andreas Seppi of Italy at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in NY, on Wednesday.
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The shutting of the cover resulted in a suspension of play of less than 7½ minutes at 3-all in the second set of Rafael Nadal’s 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 victory against Andreas Seppi in the second round.
Nadal’s victory came after the new, $150 million roof was closed with the score 3-3 in the second set.
The biggest difference was that the crowd chatter and noise was amplified, but that can only be expected in a closed arena.
“I didn’t feel silence at any moment”, she said. Each game in the opening set was very close, with Seppi having opportunities in every Nadal service game but unable to take them.
The roof closed without a hitch among a few falling raindrops.
The roof was eventually fully closed during the second set, and the atmosphere reportedly sounded more like a ballpark and not like a tennis venue the players are used to.
“It’s great to be the first player to play with the roof closed, on the competition, because I was the first player to hit in the centre court with the roof closed”, said Nadal. “Is an unbelievable, unbelievable court”.
The first set was about as good as it gets for Nadal, who served Seppi with a bagel to kick off the match.
The two-time champion, who suffered the injury at the French Open and then missed Wimbledon, showed his form when he reached the semi-finals of the singles and won the doubles gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last month. Normally, it’s probably not the fault of the people because I have been playing here for so many years and I don’t remember that noise when playing. The Italian manages to save one break point to get back to deuce, but a trademark forehand down the line followed by a loose shot from Seppi which hands Nadal the break.
Earlier in the day, unseeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia upset number three seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain – 7-5, 6-4.
“This is New York”, US Tennis Association executive director Gordon Smith said.
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‘The next round is a very tough opponent.
