Heat becomes a major opponent at the U.S. Open
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, pours water on his head to cool off between sets against Taylor Fritz, of the United States, during the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, in New York. Credit: AP/Manu Fernandez
Heat and humidity might not be the preferred messaging of the folks who promote Florida tourism, but those facts of life in that state have been a selling point during the U.S. Open.
As the tournament came under the spell of a record-breaking, post-Labor Day heat wave, players who grew up and/or live in Florida repeatedly said that the experience has helped them in Flushing this week.
The two Americans in the women’s semifinals on Thursday night, Coco Gauff and Madison Keys, both grew up entirely or mostly in the state. Gauff has said heat does not bother her at all, and seems to relish taking advantage of that. (It also likely helps that she is only 19.)
Another semifinalist, Aryna Sabalenka, grew up in Belarus but now lives and trains in Florida.
Ben Shelton, the young American who will face Novak Djokovic in Friday’s men’s semifinals, is another Floridian.
The heat was expected to linger into the evening on Thursday as the women’s semifinals unfolded but to break for the finals this weekend.
That certainly is good news for fans and most players, perhaps even the ones from Florida.
With a very light schedule on Thursday afternoon, the USTA invited fans to the grounds for free to watch the men’s doubles semifinals and other events.
The turnout was modest as the heat index hit 100 in mid-afternoon.
The concession stands were fully open, but even at an ice cream shop, bored workers fanned themselves as they waited for customers.
In Louis Armstrong Stadium, some fans did show up to watch the first doubles semifinal, but 99% of them were seated in the three quarters of the stadium that was in shade. The sunny side was a ghost town.
“Definitely very warm conditions; not easy to play,” Rohan Bopanna said after he and Matthew Ebden defeated Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, 7-6, 6-2.
Bopanna’s assessment was understated compared to the eye-opening remarks from Daniil Medvedev after his men’s singles quarterfinal victory on Wednesday.
During his defeat of Andrey Rublev, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, he was heard worrying about a player dying in the heat one day.
Afterward, he acknowledged changing the Open schedule to avoid extreme heat would be difficult, but he stuck to his warning about the “dangerous” situation.
“Maybe I’m going to finish my career and nothing is going happen and then it's fine, then I'm talking for nothing,” he said. “But the question is we don't want something to happen and then say, ‘Oh, my God, Medvedev said this a couple of years ago.’”
He added, “I don't have real solutions, but it's still better to speak a little bit about it before something happens.”
Health concerns aside, battling through difficult conditions can be another way of testing players’ mettle.
Djokovic admitted after his quarterfinal victory over Taylor Fritz that the weather was a challenge. “We both struggled — a lot,” he said.
But still, he won in straight sets.
“In the end, the best players, they prove that they are ready, and that's why they are the best,” Rublev said after losing to Medvedev. “Novak was playing in the same conditions, and nothing happened, and he was able to win still the match against really a good player.”
The USTA partially closed the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on both Tuesday and Wednesday to add to the shade. But the stadium — like Armstrong — is open to the elements on its sides and not designed to be fully enclosed and air-conditioned.
The good news was that Thursday night’s matches would be played after the sun set, making it feel at least a little bit less like a Florida summer.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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