By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, September 8, 2023
Carlos Alcaraz is bidding to become the first man since Roger Federer in 2008 to successfully defend the US Open.
Photo credit: Tim Clayton/Getty
This 2023 Flushing Meadows fortnight has delivered fantastic tennis, break-out performances from young Americans and transition at the top.
On Monday, after the US Open ends, Novak Djokovic will regain the men’s world No. 1 ranking, while Aryna Sabalenka will rise debut as new women’s world No. 1.
More: Protesters Disrupt Semifinals
Three weeks in New York has also seen some controversies pop up. Here’s our look at the Top 5 controversies from the 2023 US Open.
Crowds
The good news: The US Open set an attendance record with nearly 800,000 fans flooding through the gates.
The bad news: The US Open set an attendance record with nearly 800,000 fans flooding through the gates.
The season’s final Grand Slam remains the ultimate tennis festival hosting the popular—and primarily free—fan week that drew record-setting crowds. US Open fan week remains the best value in Grand Slam tennis.
The 2023 US Open set two- and three-week attendance records, becoming the first Grand Slam to welcome more than 950,000 spectators over a three-week period.
The US Open welcomed 957,387 fans over the 20 days encompassing the Main Draw and Fan Week, a near 8-percent increase over 2022.
The US Open's 2023 main draw attendance was a US Open record 799,402.
All 25 sessions in Arthur Ashe Stadium sold out for the second year in a row, and both the Men's (28,804) and Women's Championship (28,143) sessions were the highest-attended Championship sessions in US Open history.
From our spot in the media seating area the walk-ons for the men's and women's finals elicited two of the loudest roars we've heard in Ashe Stadium, with the sound amplified by the fact the retractable roof was closed.
By the final set of Coco Gauff's three-set win over Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final, spiking screams from fans helping the teenager cross the finish line crackled like fireworks. Gauff credited the New York fans with sparking her comeback and helping her finish.
Tennis is alive and thriving in Flushing Meadows: the US Open set a Labor Day Weekend attendance record this year, with 201,787 fans coming to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center—the first time a Labor Day weekend crowd exceeded 200,000.
Week one of the open attracted 502,385 fans—the first time opening week eclipsed a half-million—with the first six days of the main draw the six highest-attended days in US Open history.
Obviously, it’s tremendous exposure for tennis, which solidifies the sport’s strength a year after high-profile retirements of Roger Federer and Serena Williams along with the injured Rafael Nadal’s absence.
The US Open turns people onto tennis all over the world and is the economic engine that runs the programs the USTA funds throughout the year.
So where’s the controversy?
Bigger is not always better. Arthur Ashe Stadium, while a wondrous spectacle especially at night, is too big for tennis when you’re sitting in the upper deck. So you have people in the stadium spending more time watching the match on the giant video screens because the court can resemble a postage stamp and the ball a pebble when you’re in the nosebleed seats.
Further, when does the attendance growth end? Once the US Open eclipses 800,000, you can probably envision the USTA eventually targeting 1 million in attendance.
How could they do that? Expand Court 17 or build a third stadium as larger or larger than the 8,125-seat Grandstand.
Why would they do that?
Money. In addition to ticket prices, it’s $40 for parking, a Honey Deuce costs $22 and food and souvenirs are pricey, but 800,000-plus people coming through the gates, buying tickets, spending money raises a lot of revenue.
While it’s a positive to welcome so many fans, you don’t want to put fans at health risk and with a few days of broiling heat and blistering humidity, it is a concern seeing elderly fans packed among thousands. There were a couple of medical episodes where fans were treated for illness and released.
Bringing more people through the gates doesn’t necessarily mean you’re bringing fans closer to the game, especially sitting in the cavernous Ashe where there can be a disconnect between court and upper-deck crowd.
The US Open is the People’s Slam but it’s best as a celebration of tennis not as a shopping mall for tennis.
Disrupters
You’ve probably noticed Grand Slam tennis has become a major stage for selfish hijackers.
Yes, we’re looking at you “Glued Guy”, as Karolina Muchova called the fossil fuel protester who glued his bare feet to the concrete causing a 49-minute delay during the women’s semifinal between Coco Gauff and Muchova on Thursday night.
The overwhelming majority of US Open spectators are passionate, knowledgeable, devoted tennis fans.
Sure, when you have more than 50,000 people per day rolling through the gates, there’s going to be a few drunks or bad apples who can get belligerent, rowdy or annoying.
You can argue fans pay a lot of money to attend the US Open and the loudest Grand Slam should welcome the fans’ voice, energy and enthusiasm. Remember, just a few years ago we witnessed a US Open without fans during the pandemic and it was not nearly as exciting or electric.
That’s all true: Fans should be able to cheer, express themselves, bring the noise and fun as long as they’re not creating unfair conditions for either player or trying to disrupt the match. In fact, before each match in Ashe Stadium a message appears on the big screen encouraging fans to show sportsmanship in cheering.
Case in point: The Chilean fans supporting Nicolas Jarry on the outer courts were some of the most passionate fans we saw these last few weeks. They unleashed the “Chile! Chile! Chile!” chant, they fired up Jarry and waved the flag, but did it all within the context of the match and without crossing the line.
Still, sometimes the power of the crowd can crush a player’s spirit or crack concentration.
Alexander Zverev and Jelena Ostapenko both asked for transgressors to be booted from their matches after disruptions.
German veteran Laura Siegemund was in tears after her three-set loss to Coco Gauff in the first round over fan reaction to her methodical pace of play.
Siegemund said she felt “no respect” and treated like a cheater as some fans booed when she was given a time violation then a point-penalty for exceeding the serve clock.
“They treated me like I was a bad person,” Siegemund said. “I’m 35. What do I play tennis for? I make good money, I’m not gonna probably reach my best ranking anymore – not in singles. I play out there for the people. I play for the effort. I can still play, my body is giving me the chance to play a little bit more and I know there are fans out there that appreciate fighting and not giving up, and just good sport.”
To her credit, Siegemund bounced back to reach the doubles final partnering former US Open singles finalist Vera Zvonareva.
Weed
In the aftermath of Novak Djokovic sweeping Taylor Fritz on Ashe Stadium, we saw athlete and audience converge for a common cause: partying.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion led fans in a chorus of the Beastie Boys classic “You gotta fight for your right to party!”
Turns out, some fans bring more burn to the Flushing Meadows party than revelers at a Cypress Hill show.
A common complaint from week one: The smell of weed wafting onto Court 17 from tokers in adjacent Flushing Meadows Corona Park .
Maria Sakkari to Alexander Zverev to Jelena Ostapenko all reported smelling marijuana smoke emanating from adjacent Flushing Meadows Corona Park onto Court 17.
Olympic gold-medal champion Alexander Zverev said cozy Court 17 smelled like rapper Snoop Dogg's house after a chronic session, dubbing it the “Weed Court.”
"The whole court smells like weed," Zverev said. "Court 17 definitely smells like Snoop Dogg's living room."
Former Roland Garros champion Ostapenko said the smell of the sticky stuff is so common, she’s come to accept it as part of Court 17’s unique atmosphere.
“With the weed, it's a normal thing. Every match I smell it," Ostapenko said. "It's not a surprise they were complaining about it.”
Years ago, the tournament was staged on grass at Forest Hills. Now, it just smells like grass in Flushing Meadows.
We walk through the park daily from the media parking lot near the Hall of Science to the US Open South Plaza gates. It’s true: we do smell weed on occasion. Though it hasn’t been a daily experience for us. Also, the people we’ve smelled (and seen) smoking are not standing beneath a tree passing a bong around. They’re walking through the park or toward a parking lot smoking while they’re walking.
Marijuana is legal in New York and when walking around the city, particularly in or near parks, it’s not uncommon to smell it. So perhaps this is the new scent of the US Open though we have not smelled it while inside the gates of the National Tennis Center so players concerned about catching contact high should not be concerned.
Given the fact the US Open has branded and marketed everything from water to tequila, who knows? Perhaps a few years down the road, you’ll be able to buy the official flower of the US Open or official CBD oil of the US Open or perhaps someday physios will be prescribing it for pain relief.
Roof Debate
Stifling second-week heat saw temperatures rise to a blistering 90 degrees with sweltering humidity over 50 percent.
Punishing heat caused health and safety concerns prompting some, including Hall of Famer John McEnroe, to call on the tournament to close the retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium and turn on the air conditioner to prevent players or fans from suffering in extreme heat.
During his brutal quarterfinal conquest of buddy Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev wondered aloud of conditions could create a casualty.
On a sticky, sweltering day that left both men gulping deep breaths of air between points, Medvedev wrapped ice towels around his neck on changeovers, combated blurry vision, called for the tournament doctor at one point and summed up the suffering in steam bath conditions with a candid confession late in the third set.
“You cannot imagine…one player gonna die and then you gonna see,” Medvedev said into the court-side camera during a draining 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Afterward, Medvedev said the blistering heat burned the skin off his nose and left him pondering one simple question: When is it deemed too dangerous to play in searing heat?
“Brutal conditions for both of us,” Medvedev said. “I don't know if it could be seen through the camera, because we are sweating so much and use a lot of towels, I have no skin left on my nose here, and, like, here it's red, but it's not because of the sun so it's not like you're burned but I have no skin left.
“I just saw Andrey in the locker room and his face very red, and it's also not because of the sun so I guess it's the same. That tells everything, like we left everything out there. The thing is that even if it would go further I think we would still leave even more. Then I don't think I had anything left but if the match would go on I would find something more. And the only thing that is a little bit, let's call it dangerous, is that the question is how far could we go?”
Some players disagreed and welcomed the heat.
After losing her Grand Slam quarterfinal debut to Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday afternoon, China’s Zheng Qinwen said she wasn’t fazed by the steamy conditions.
“For me it is not hot at all, these conditions. I wouldn't even consider this weather hot,” Zheng said. “This is a good temperature. Especially in the second set. We got shadow there.
“I mean, the first set was tricky because there is half shadow, half sun. Took me a while to get fast reaction in my eyes, but really in the second set, I honestly think that was good condition.”
Since the retractable roof over Ashe Stadium was introduced, officials have maintained the US Open is an outdoor tournament and aim to preserve that tradition where the elements—including sun, heat and wind—are a factor.
So for now, there is no change in the roof protocol.
Wilson US Open Ball
The US Open came with a new bounce this year.
For the first time in years, the women played with the slightly heavier Wilson US Open Extra Duty felt ball rather than the Wilson US Open Regular Duty felt ball women had used for years.
The trial basis change came in response to several star players, including Iga Swiatek, calling on the tournament to make the change last year.
The Open complied though some players experienced arm problems, including Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova and Roland Garros finalist Karolina Muchova, who played the semifinals wearing a black sleeve around her right arm, while others felt the ball change benefited heavy hitters most.
Jessica Pegula, who sits on the WTA Player Council, said players are discussing the 2024 US Open ball now. It’s possible women could go back to the Regular Duty felt ball.
“I think obviously the players' health is the most important. That's definitely something we're going to look at,” Pegula said. “Yeah, it's hard when you're trialing and you only have a couple weeks. That's not a lot of time for people to adapt and get used to….
“Player health is probably the main priority there…I think what we just want is something more consistent. Hopefully we can get there. I don't know. Again, it's such a complicated, annoying topic. The amount of time we spend talking about the balls is insane. But there's so many elements.”
In a 2023 US Open Pre-Tournament Press Conference Zoom call with the media, Tournament Director Stacey Allaster said the US Open is is happy to use whichever version of the Wilson ball, women players prefer—the WTA needs to deliver a final verdict by the end of this 2023 Open to give Wilson adequate time to manufacture the ball for the 2024 tournament.
"Right now this is a trial," Allaster said. "The WTA is polling the players. They've been playing with the ball in Canada and Cincinnati. We'll expect the WTA to tell us at the end of the 2023 US Open if they'd like to continue with the Wilson Extra Duty or they prefer to go back to the regular felt balls.
"100% in the athletes' decision. We're happy to do whatever the athletes want as it relates to the ball. So is our long time, 45-year partner Wilson."