Djokovic and Murray on the new court conditions on the Arthur Ashe Stadium - UBITENNIS

Djokovic and Murray on the new court conditions on the Arthur Ashe Stadium

By Cordell Hackshaw
3 Min Read
NY 29Aug2015 Roof scaffolding Ashe Stadium wide angle view from top on Art Ashe Day

US OPEN – After much handwringing and dodging of the issue, the USTA finally decided to build a roof on the Arthur Ashe Centre Court. The unpredictable weather patterns and messy scheduling at the Open over the last few years have precipitated the necessity of this new construction. The USTA is quite proud of this fact and there are numerous pictures swirling around showing the significant work already done. However, the real question at these championships is how will the partial roof affect play on court. Both Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray gave their impressions on the new court conditions of the stadium.

“I’ve practiced several times in the center court. The construction is really impressive and that has protected the court from the wind, so we have less of the swirling conditions on the court, which does help. In the past, I’ve played many matches where it was difficult to control the ball on the court because of the swirling conditions. Now it protects it, but it also looks impressive. I can’t wait to see the roof as well,”said Djokovic on the court.

NY 29Aug2015 Roof scaffolding Ashe Stadium wide angle view from top on Art Ashe Day with shadows.
NY 29 Aug 2015 Roof scaffolding Ashe Stadium wide angle view from top on Art Ashe Day with shadows.

For Andy Murray the question of the shadows on the court that he is most concerned with, “It’s obviously different, the courts at different times of the day like, from 3 o’clock onward it’s in the shade and from 11 to 1 o’clock there’s a shadow on one side, which is different. It’s not a bad thing. It’s not as windy on the court any more with the roof, but normally when you’re playing 11, 1 o’clock there’s no shade at all, you’re playing in the heat and now obviously on that court there’s a lot of shade, which is probably not a bad thing. It’s meant to be very hot next week.”

It still remains to be seen how the new conditions will affect play in actual matches. However, one is about to find out come Day 1 of the US Open as Ana Ivanovic and Dominika Cibulkova are set to play the first match on the court. Djokovic is slated for the 3rd match during the Day Session. Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal will their first round matches during the Night Session.

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