Rafa Nadal boasted after his first-round U.S. Open match that he had a video recording of being the first player to hit a ball in practice under the new roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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No. 7 seed Marin Cilic defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky, dispatching his opponent in one hour, 40 minutes on Court 17, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, while Jack Sock made easy work of German qualifier Mischa Zverev, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the US Open for the first time in three years.
Play resumed seven minutes, 22 seconds after the stoppage with Nadal serving at 3-3 in the second set before he completed his victory over Seppi.
“I was very happy to be the first player to play in the competition with this fantastic roof closing”, he said.
Nadal’s mood was in stark contrast to women’s French Open champion Garbine Muguruza who had preceded her compatriot on court and was upset by Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 7-5 6-4.
The USTA has said that, based on pre-tournament testing, the expectation is there will be little difference in playing conditions whether the roof is open or closed.
‘And the roof is so high you don’t feel you are closed. That’s my feeling. Today I didn’t feel the change.
Nadal was then asked whether he can try hitting the roof and the though the Spaniard tried, he said, “It’s impossible for me!”
A general view as the roof to Arthur Ashe Stadium is opened during the opening ceremony for the 2016 US Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, Aug 29, 2016.
He didn’t think it changed when the roof was closed, but said he found it “a little bit too much” at some moments during the points.
“This is NY”, U.S. Tennis Association executive director Gordon Smith said.
‘I know it’s so hard because the court is very big, ‘ he said.
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Elsewhere, the US Tennis Association said a spectator was arrested by police after he jumped over a wall surrounding a US Open court at the end of a match. “That’s an important shot for me”.
