After New York City mandated on Friday that ticket holders to Arthur Ashe Stadium had to provide proof of vaccination, U.S. Open officials decided to require vaccine proof for all to enter the grounds.
There were some very long lines at the East Gate late Monday morning which led to some exasperation on opening day. But the vaccine check didn’t seem to be the problem.
“Took us hours,” said Mary Youngberg of New York, who had come to the Open using the railroad. “We walked over the boardwalk, then were told the line was back at the start of the boardwalk. We went back, then saw a lot of people getting off trains that walked ahead of us. There was no communication.”
Said Johnathan Lewis of Boston with a bit of a sigh: “Two hours, two hours.”
The USTA issued a statement saying crowds were arriving later than usual and while the process to check on vaccinations was not hindering access, it said people were bringing many more bags this year that had to be checked and that caused the hold up.
The USTA said it is exploring ways to speed the process.
Tsitsipas prevails
Former Open champion Andy Murray rode some crowd energy to take Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets, but he couldn’t quite make it to the finish line as Tsitsipas gutted out a 2-6, 7-6 ( 7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in 4 hours, 49 minutes.
Tsitsipas took a long break after the fourth set and was assessed a time violation upon his return, which led Murray to complain. But Tsitsipas seemed calm and cool in the humid atmosphere and played a quality set to close it out.
Halep overcomes hurdle
This hasn’t been the best of years for Simona Halep. A left calf tear in May at the Rome event sidelined her until the beginning of August, and when she returned she injured her right thigh.
Then she drew Camila Giorgi in the first round, a “dangerous floater” in tennis parlance, an unseeded player who posted a huge win in Montreal two weeks ago.
Given all that, Halep posted an impressive victory, 6-4, 7-6 (3), on a windy Grandstand court, overcoming a break of serve in the first set.
It sure helped that fans had returned to the stands.
“I had fun on court, and I liked some people that were screaming in Romanian also and in English [smiling],” Halep said. “I had big support.”
