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      Gauff-Stephens U.S. Open Matchup Another Sign of the Williams Legacy

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      Neither Venus nor Serena Williams entered the U.S. Open this year. But their influence in the women’s singles tournament is clear.When Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff face off on Wednesday night at the U.S. Open, their drawing power as young Black women in Arthur Ashe Stadium will be just the latest showcase of the legacy of the sisters Venus and Serena Williams.Neither Williams sister is competing at this year’s tournament because of injuries — the first time both sisters are absent from Flushing Meadows since 2003. But their presence is clear throughout the tournament even though they aren’t in the field.When Venus Williams broke through to her first U.S. Open final in 1997, she was the first Black woman to do so in nearly 40 years. Now, success by Black women in the tournament is the norm. In the four women’s singles tournaments from 2017 through 2020, six of the eight slots in the finals were filled by Black players. Naomi Osaka won the tournament twice — including in 2018 against Serena Williams — and Stephens beat Madison Keys for the title in 2017. Serena Williams also made the final in 2019.Stephens beat Keys in the first round on Monday in a rematch of their 2017 final, leading to her showdown with Gauff in the second round.Gauff, 17, had not been born the last time the U.S. Open was without either of the Williams sisters. She said that when she was younger, her father “spent a lot of money” on front row tickets at Ashe to watch the Williamses up close.“Since I was 8 years old, pretty much every year coming — to watch them really,” Gauff said. “That’s probably the only reason why we spent so much money on tickets and travel, is to watch them play.”Stephens, 28, has not been particularly close to the Williams sisters even though she looked up to them as a child. But she has formed a bond with Gauff, who grew up near Stephens in Florida.“The evolution of her game has been really awesome,” said Stephens, who said she had known Gauff since Gauff was 8 and calls her “Cocofina” as a nickname.“To be as established as she is now is super inspiring, super awesome,” Stephens said. She added: “She has a lot of amazing things she does in her game. Obviously she’s young so she still has things to work on, but I think she’s a very established player with great things in her game.”Gauff said that facing Stephens at the U.S. Open would be a “full-circle moment.”“I’ve known her for a long time, so I don’t even know what the first memory is,” Gauff said of Stephens. “I do remember when I was 10 years old, I had a birthday party at a water park, and she came to it, which is really cool. All my friends were excited that Sloane Stephens is at your birthday.”Gauff reached the final of the 2017 U.S. Open junior tournament when she was 13, the year in which Stephens won the top singles title. More

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      Sloane Stephens Beats Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open

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      Stephens relied on her experience as the 2017 U.S. Open champion, and her wicked forehand, to outmaneuver the 17-year-old Gauff in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.The guard is changing in women’s tennis, and with Serena Williams not playing this year’s U.S. Open, the night session in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday was left to the leaders of the generations of American players who have followed.On one side of the net was Sloane Stephens, 28, and the 2017 U.S. Open champion. On the other was Coco Gauff, the youngest player in the top 100 at age 17 and the highest seeded American left in either singles draw, at No. 21.Both are based in South Florida and they have known each other for years, but had never faced each other on the professional tennis tour. Though Gauff is the higher-ranked player, Stephens took control of the match and never relinquished it to win 6-4, 6-2, in just one hour and six minutes.With heavy rain drumming on the closed roof, it was difficult to hear the ball bounce or the calls of “out” from the prerecorded voice that is used in the electronic line calling system.But hearing was not required to grasp the power and precision of Stephens’s forehand. It is her signature shot, once judged the best in the women’s game in a New York Times poll of players and coaches, and it was the decisive shot against Gauff.“The forehand was key today,” Stephens said. “I wanted to come out here and really execute and play my game, and I was able to do that well, and I’m really pleased with how I played.”Stephens hit eight winners with the forehand: bolts from the baseline and well-struck passing shots when Gauff pushed forward. But that number did not sum up the damage. Stephens also rushed Gauff repeatedly with the shot, forcing errors even off Gauff’s more reliable wing, the backhand.Stephens varied the pace, but she also brought the pace when she felt it was required, and she struck the balance just right.She served effectively, putting 84 percent of her first serves in play and winning 80 percent of the points when she did so. Her average serve speeds were significantly lower than Gauff’s, but her precision was superior.When the match ended decisively with a love hold, Stephens quickly transformed into a supportive rival, telling Gauff “I love you” and hugging her at the net.“I think everyone knows I love Coco,” Stephens said. “She’s such a great player, and I feel so lucky to have seen her grow up and see her play from when she was like 8 years old. I have seen her game really transition and change. I’m really proud of the player she is and the girl she is and the woman she is becoming.” More

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      Alexander Zverev Soars on the Court as Abuse Allegations Linger

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      The German star has a good chance of getting in the way of Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of a Grand Slam, even as he confronts allegations of domestic violence.Alexander Zverev is playing the best tennis of his career.He stretched his winning streak to 12 matches on Tuesday with a clinical, 100-minute demolition of Sam Querrey, the hard-serving American who is always dangerous on hardcourts. Zverev is one month removed from knocking off the world No. 1, Novak Djokovic, in the Olympic semifinal and winning the gold medal in men’s singles, which he followed by winning the Western & Southern Open near Cincinnati, a top-level event on the men’s tour and the main tuneup for the U.S. Open.But as he prepares to face Albert Ramos-Viñolas of Spain in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday, he continues to fend off allegations of domestic violence from a former girlfriend that have become the elephant in the room, one that neither the ATP Tour nor Zverev can ignore any longer.As Zverev’s stature on the court has grown this summer, so has attention to the accusations. Last month, leaders of the ATP announced a review of how the tour handles players accused of domestic abuse. Zverev went to court in Germany last week to contest publication of a lengthy article in Slate that details accusations from a former girlfriend, Olya Sharypova, a former Russian tennis player, that Zverev repeatedly abused her.Sharypova has not filed any criminal charges over the incidents, which she says took place in 2019.Zverev, 24, a German, has repeatedly and categorically denied ever abusing Sharypova. In recent days, he has pointed to the German court’s decision late last week to issue an injunction against Slate and the author of the article, Ben Rothenberg, from publishing the allegations without more substantial evidence as a confirmation of his innocence.Rothenberg is a freelance tennis journalist who sometimes writes for The New York Times. He and Slate have stated they stand by the reporting in the article, which Slate has not removed from its website or blocked from readers in Germany, despite the injunction from the German court.“We stand by our fair and accurate reporting based on multiple sources and interviews,” Katie Rayford, Slate’s director of media relations, said in a statement.The initial decision from the court in Germany, where the libel and defamation standards are more stringent than in the United States, was far from a final word on the matter.The hearing in the court in Berlin took place without the participation of Slate or anyone except Zverev’s lawyers. The decision stated Zverev’s lawyers made a credible argument that the accusations were not true, but the court did not hear testimony from the other parties involved, and it’s not clear how the ruling will be enforced.The court, however, agreed with his argument that the evidence presented in the article was not sufficient under German law to justify the impact on him. The decision stated that such an article needed to have enough balance so that it did not leave the impression that Zverev was guilty of the acts Sharypova accused him of committing.Olya Sharypova attended Zverev’s match at the U.S. Open in 2019.Anthony Behar/Sipa USA, via Associated PressSharypova, who was not a named defendant in Zverev’s complaint, continued to make claims against him on Instagram after the ruling, writing that she was not afraid of Zverev, his family or his legal team, though she has since taken down the post.“I said the truth and you’re going to court to try to win it with a lie?” she wrote. “Nice try to scary me, but I have nothing to be afraid of.”After his first-round win on Tuesday, Zverev said he planned to push ahead with the legal battle to clear his name.“I think my statement was very, very clear, and I think the German court system is also very clear,” he said.“I will not let that sit on me, and that’s it,” Zverev said of the accusations. “I’m not going to comment on it any further because, to be honest, I have been dealing with it for a long time now.”Days before the Slate article was published, the ATP Tour announced it would review its strategy for handling players who are accused of domestic abuse or sexual misconduct. The major North American sports leagues took similar actions years ago.Critics of the ATP, including active players, have long asked for similar action from their own association. Until now, the ATP has waited for legal proceedings to conclude, a process that can take years, before issuing its own penalties or punishments for players.Last month, the leaders of the tour said they had commissioned a report from a panel of independent experts to recommend a new policy for more proactive involvement.“Abuse has a profound and lasting impact on millions of victims each year,” Massimo Calvelli, chief executive of the ATP Tour, said in a statement announcing the creation of the panel. “When abusive conduct or allegations are related to any member of the tennis family it can also impact the public’s trust in our sport. We recognize that we have a responsibility to be doing more.”Coming up with a uniform policy for tennis might be easier said than done. Seven major organizations run the sport. Scores of players have signed on to a new players association that Djokovic and others are attempting to create. The sport operates and the players live all over the world, and legal standards differ from one country to the next, though that may be the strongest reason for the need for a single abuse policy.Andy Murray, a former No. 1 who is a member of the ATP Player Council and has lobbied for a change in the policy, applauded the move on Monday.“Obviously it was something that needed to change in terms of how some of the situations have been handled, I think, this year,” Murray said. “I just didn’t really feel like the sport had much of a sort of stance on it really.”He added: “Let’s see what their suggestions and recommendations are at the end of that. Hopefully there is a policy in place at the end of it.”Zverev said he, too, supported a new policy for abusive behavior, though he has not committed to participating in an independent investigation by the ATP Tour that could be included in such a policy.Amid the allegations and legal proceedings, he has somehow managed to play the best tennis of his career. Midway through his semifinal against Djokovic at the Tokyo Games, Zverev abandoned caution and began blasting away with his serves and returns. Zverev rendered one of the best players ever to play the game helpless.He has not let up since, putting on another show on Tuesday against Querrey. He blasted 18 aces, won 60 of 74 points on his serve and never faced a break point. He credited his success on the court with his happiness off it.“The past year has been very, very good for me,” he said during his on-court television interview after the match. “I have had a lot of success on the court. I also enjoy life outside the court.” More

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      Tennis Programs at Historically Black Colleges Receive a Boost

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      The U.S.T.A. has initiated a grant program with the ultimate goal of enhancing opportunities for players of color, especially women, to become coaches and grow the game.Rochelle Houston had an advantage. Her father, Joe Goldthreate, is a legendary tennis coach in Nashville, who taught her not only how to play the game, but how to coach it, too.Houston is now the head of tennis at Florida A&M, which until recently meant she coached both teams. But the men’s team was cut in 2020 due to a lack of funding, and the women’s team makes do. It certainly does not enjoy the lavish facilities and recruiting budgets of many large Division I programs.That is typical of many, if not all, of the 38 historically Black colleges and universities that have tennis programs. To help address that, the United States Tennis Association has initiated a grant program to contribute funding to those college programs, with the ultimate goal of enhancing opportunities for players of color, especially women, to become coaches and grow the game.“There is a desperate need,” Houston said Wednesday from her office in Tallahassee, Fla. “We don’t have a lot of funding. We barely get by. This program will help significantly.”The grant is named after David Dinkins, the former mayor of New York who was a board member of the U.S.T.A. and longtime tennis player, fan and active supporter. Had it not been for Dinkins’ advocacy and intervention, the U.S. Open might not even be in New York anymore, and might not have its showpiece venue, Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest in tennis.The U.S.T.A. David N. Dinkins H.B.C.U. Coaching Grant will initially offer grants of up to $2,500 for each school, but that figure could increase if funding does. The money can be used for a wide range of areas where many H.B.C.U. tennis programs are underfunded, including for recruiting and basic equipment.“Our recruiting budget is very limited,” Houston said, “But maybe this can help us get new rackets for the girls, or strings and uniforms, things like that. Sometimes we can’t afford it.”The U.S.T.A. will announce the grant on Thursday as part of a day to celebrate Dinkins, who died in November 2020 at age 93. Dinkins met his wife, Joyce, who passed away in October 2020 at age 89, when both attended Howard University, one of the premier H.B.C.U.s. The U.S. Open will feature “H.B.C.U. Live” events throughout the day on Thursday, including a performance by the Howard band inside Ashe Stadium before the night matches.Dinkins, a former mayor of New York, watching a match at the U.S. Open in 2014.Andrew Gombert/EPA, via Shutterstock“This is really heartwarming for our whole family,” said David Dinkins, Jr., a senior vice president for sports programming at the Showtime network. “This has been a really tough year since mom and dad died, but the love and support that we have received, including things like this, are incredibly thoughtful and have made it a little easier to bear.”Dinkins added that his father’s support for tennis extended beyond the U.S. Open to grass-roots tennis, and that the grant program would have been especially meaningful to him.“He would have really loved this,” Dinkins, Jr. said.The concept was the idea of Marisa Grimes, the U.S.T.A.’s chief of diversity and inclusion. Although she did not attend an H.B.C.U. (she went to the University of Maryland), she came into the new job in January looking for a way to help support H.B.C.U. tennis programs and increase the ranks of coaches of color, particularly women.“This is a way for us to bring more people of color and women into the coaching profession,” Grimes said. “It’s an opportunity to tap into players who have a level of experience, but maybe have not seen a pathway to coaching. A lot of H.B.C.U. programs are underfunded.”Grimes said college players can get financial help through the coaching certification process that will help them not only after they graduate, but could also provide them with income while coaching at camps and clinics in the summers. Once an H.B.C.U. program reaches a certain threshold of players going through those coaching certification workshops, the school will be eligible for a Dinkins grant.The hope is that with more coaches of color and more women coaches spread throughout the tennis community, it will encourage more participation. Only four of the top 100 players on the women’s tour had a female coach in 2019, according to the Women’s Tennis Coaching Association.“For young people to see coaches that look like them and reflect their background is a big deal,” Grimes said. “We want to make sure there are role models for those young players, who can say, ‘Oh, maybe this sport is for me, too.’”Houston, the Florida A&M coach, said she is an example of that, primarily because her coach was her father Goldthreate, who was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame last year. Houston played at F.A.M.U. and was the team’s No. 1 women’s singles and doubles player, and in 2002 was named to the all-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (which includes Howard) team in 2002.She went back to coach in Nashville but returned to Tallahassee to coach at F.A.M.U. in 2015. She said her experience, having learned from her father, made it easier for her, but others don’t have the same role models.“Anything that will help other young players recognize that they can become coaches, will help,” she said, “especially for women. Things have gotten a little better in that regard, but we have a ways to go.” More

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      A Young Serbian Player Has a Not-So-Secret Weapon: Novak Djokovic

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      Olga Danilovic, who calls the world No. 1 her mentor, had been scheduled to play Naomi Osaka at the U.S. Open, but pulled out an hour before her match.Olga Danilovic has never experienced an atmosphere like the show court matches at the U.S. Open. And now she will have to wait at least another year.Danilovic had been scheduled to play the reigning champion Naomi Osaka at noon on Wednesday, but withdrew from their second round match about an hour before it was played. Tournament officials said Danilovic had a medical issue and that Osaka would advance to the third round.Danilovic, a qualifier ranked 145th, has been mentored and inspired from a young age by the 20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, a compatriot who has quietly offered support to many young Serbian players, even as he chases a spot atop the pantheon of men’s tennis history.“When you talk to him you think, ‘OK, now I’m going to beat everyone after talking to him,’” Danilovic told Tennis.com earlier this year. “His energy and dedication and his passion to play and work is something that pushes you to be better.”After winning his first round match on Tuesday night, Djokovic said Danilovic had been eager for a big-time opportunity against Osaka.“She was asking me about how it feels to be on the big stage,” Djokovic said. “Of course, you can say something, but then you really need to experience it. Hopefully she can use that to her own advantage, the motivation and inspiration.”Danilovic, 20 broke into the WTA Top 100 after winning the Moscow River Cup in 2018, when she was only 17, becoming the first player born this century to win a WTA title, but she struggled to win consistently.Djokovic emphasized that Danilovic was still “really young.”“She’s got the goods,” Djokovic said. “She’s really, really strong, fit, tall, lefty; don’t have many good lefty servers in both the men’s and women’s game. I think it’s quite an advantage. If she’s serving well, she can do damage to a lot of players.”What Danilovic is missing, Djokovic said, was experience.“The more matches she’s winning on this stage, the more comfortable she’s going to feel,” Djokovic said. “So, yes, we’ve been speaking a lot. I’ve been trying to help her out as much as I possibly can, her team, her family, with guidance on and off the court, some advices.”Danilovic has plenty of athletic experience in her family, although not in tennis. Her father, Sasha Danilovic, was a star shooting guard in European basketball leagues in the 1990s, and played for two seasons in the N.B.A. He is now the president of the Basketball Federation of Serbia.“She’s got the great genes for sport,” Djokovic said Tuesday.Djokovic watched Danilovic’s second-round match at the Australian Open courtside earlier this year.“I noticed at the very end,” Shelby Rogers, Danilovic’s opponent in that match, said. “She definitely won the cheering squad award today, I’ll tell you that.” More

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      Naomi Osaka on Her Tennis Roots: 'Home Is Queens and These Courts'

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      The defending U.S. Open champion got her start playing with her family in a city park in Jamaica, Queens.Just a few days before Naomi Osaka, the defending champion of the United States Open, stepped onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens, for her first match of the 2021 tournament, the four-time Grand Slam title winner made another stop in Queens: to an unassuming public park in Jamaica.There, at Detective Keith L. Williams Park, Ms. Osaka attended the unveiling of five renovated tennis courts with new nets and surfaces, all of which are surrounded by newly painted graphics and symbols. With funding from Bodyarmor, the sports drink company based in Whitestone, Queens, Ms. Osaka served as a creative and practical adviser on how to refurbish the tennis courts.After all, it was personal for her.Ms. Osaka, whose father is Haitian and mother is Japanese (and who represents Japan when she competes), was 3 years old when her family left Osaka, Japan, for Elmont, a hamlet on Long Island near the Queens border. Soon after, her father started to bring Naomi and her older sister, Mari, to the Jamaica courts because they were free and inclusive. The sisters learned how to play tennis there. Naomi went on to become the No. 1 player in the world in 2019.Naomi Osaka, in her early years, on the courts of Jamaica, Queens. “I remember hitting with some of the local players, men who were anywhere from 30 to 50 years old.”via Naomi Osaka“As a traveling athlete, the place that always feels like home is Queens and these courts,” said Ms. Osaka, who played tennis in Jamaica until her family left the area for Pembroke Pines, Fla., when she was 8. “Mari and I spent so much time here as kids, so many hours on these courts, practicing, and we really feel a connection to not only the courts but the area and the community.”Before Ms. Osaka visited either court in Queens, whether it was in a stadium or a public park, The Times caught up with her over email. The following is an edited and condensed version of the interview.Leonard Francois, Ms. Osaka’s father, took her and her sister to the courts in Jamaica because they were free and inclusive. Now Ms. Osaka would like for other young people to play there. Above: Ms. Osaka, right, with participants from a recent clinic.Calla Kessler for The New York TimesQ. How did you end up playing tennis in Jamaica?A. It was really expensive to practice at indoor clubs or any other court for that matter, especially considering how many hours we were usually on the court practicing. So my parents started taking me to play in Jamaica because that was all we really had as an option.What memories do you have from these courts?My dad was always coaching me and Mari. We mostly did drills, but I remember hitting with some of the local players, men who were anywhere from 30 to 50 years old. Because we were there so often, everyone knew who we were, and there was a sense of community. When I first started playing I remember some of them enjoyed kicking our butts. But as I got older, I could put up a fight against some of them. I remember one of them, he was tall and lanky. I started beating him too much, so my dad gave me certain rules to follow, like always hit the ball at him so he doesn’t have to move or start every game down 0-30.Naomi, on the left, with her older sister, Mari, at the U.S. Open in the early 2000s.via Naomi OsakaDo you have any vivid New York memories from then?On the weekends my mom would bring us into the city and take us into Chinatown, and we got this hot, fluffy scallion bread. I have no idea which specific shop it was, but it’s my favorite food, and I think about it when I think about New York City.It can be hard to find a tennis court in the city. Many have steep fees or long lines. How would you like to see this one operate?I would love to see people from the community play on this court, people who don’t necessarily have the means to pay for a club membership, people who just want to try and hit some balls for the fun of it, or kids who are trying to reach a dream. When we were young we got kicked off so many courts because we stayed too long or didn’t pay enough money. I wish for these courts to just let anyone play on a first come first served basis.A tennis clinic at Detective Keith L. Williams Park, in Jamaica, Queens.Calla Kessler for The New York TimesWhen you refurbished the courts you left a lot of symbols on them. Tell us about their meaning.Not only did I want to create a really cool court that kids could relate to and want to come see and play on, we wanted to leave behind a message that would hopefully inspire the community, especially the kids. So Mari, who is an amazing artist, and I collaborated on a mural that ties in some of our personal background as well as places and symbols.As you enter the court you’ll see a welcome sign in English, Haitian and Japanese, which represents our background. Music is also a huge part of my life, it’s my pre-match ritual, so you’ll see music notes painted on the edge of the court. There is also a trophy on one end to acknowledge my career and inspire others to reach their goals. Peace is incredibly important to me off the court, so you’ll see symbols of that. While the colors we used on the court are bright, they are also cool and calming. I’m a big fan of blues and purples.“I just hope everyone remembers that tennis is a game and is meant to be fun.”Calla Kessler for The New York TimesWould you be interested in developing other courts and programs in other underserved neighborhoods across the country?I am already working on a bunch of similar projects with my foundation, the Play Academy. We want to create opportunities for girls to have positive experiences with play and sport in the United States, Japan and Haiti. My parents also built tennis courts (as part of a school) in Jacmel, Haiti. My dad has family there, and it is not too far from the capital, which made it a convenient location.At the end of the day I just hope everyone remembers that tennis is a game and is meant to be fun. More

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      Novak Djokovic Is Sensitive, Even When the Crowd’s Not Against Him

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      Fans at the U.S. Open lustily cheered Djokovic’s teenage opponent Holger Rune, but once you have played the villain in New York, it’s easy to jump to conclusions.The confusion was understandable on Tuesday night. Novak Djokovic has been through enough me-against-the-world moments at the U.S. Open and beyond to expect the boos even when he is shooting for tennis’s equivalent of the moon.But the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium for this first-round match was actually chanting “Rune” — accentuating the u in the surname of his flashy 18-year-old opponent Holger Rune.“Obviously you always wish to have the crowd behind you, but it’s not always possible, that’s all I can say,” Djokovic said after his 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1 victory.Djokovic is a great champion, and in position in this golden age of men’s tennis to win the statistical race by a hefty margin, ahead of his career-long measuring sticks Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.But the road to the summit has often been bumpy, and he has made a number of his own potholes, including the one he dug in his most recent appearance in Arthur Ashe Stadium. That was last year when he was defaulted in the fourth round after unintentionally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball he struck in frustration after losing his serve against Pablo Carreño Busta.Djokovic was the No. 1 seed and heavy favorite to win the title then, just as he is the No. 1 seed and heavy favorite to win the title now. But there is more at stake and a very different vibe.Djokovic’s gaffe in 2020 came in an all-but-empty Ashe Stadium, devoid of fans because of coronavirus pandemic restrictions. This year, the stadiums and grounds are packed. More than 53,000 came on Tuesday, and it would have been easy to imagine that life had returned to normal if it had not been for the many fans wearing masks in the stands and in the walkways.Djokovic dropped the second set and the crowd began to chant Holger Rune’s name.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesRune began to cramp in the third set and never really recovered.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesAnother sign of the times: the line judges are gone. Already absent in 2020 on the outside courts, they have been replaced on all courts this year by the automated line-judging system that eerily uses a prerecorded human voice.Call it a clean slate as Djokovic tries to make his mark on the game even more indelibly. A Grand Slam is a big deal and deserves to be: Only five players have accomplished it in singles in tennis’s long history.Men’s stars like Jack Kramer, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi never managed it. Federer and Nadal surely won’t either.But Djokovic is close enough to taste the Grand Slam now, having won the first three of the four legs in 2021. After Tuesday night’s victory, he is just six matches away from joining Don Budge, Maureen Connolly, Rod Laver, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf on the short list of those who have achieved it.Though the shoulder that bothered him at the Tokyo Olympics did not seem to be a problem, it was not an entirely reassuring start. Rune, a teenage qualifier from Denmark whose boyhood hero was Federer, was making his Grand Slam debut. A former world No. 1 as a junior, Rune is a dynamic player with explosive power and contagious energy. He not only won the second set. He also got the crowd on his side in Ashe Stadium, the biggest venue in tour-level tennis with its five tiers and 23,771 seats.Though Djokovic looked frustrated and off rhythm as Rune evened the match at one-set-apiece, Djokovic never looked genuinely rattled and was under no threat down the stretch.Rune, playing his first best-of-five-set match, began to cramp in his legs early in the third set and winced and hobbled between points. He was unable to jump into his serve, unable to run down Djokovic’s drop shots and groundstrokes into the corners.Fans watching matches on the big screen in front of Arthur Ashe Stadium.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesOne suspects that Rune has a bright future (and not because he resembles a young Leonardo DiCaprio). But the final two sets on Tuesday lasted just 51 minutes, less time than it took Rune to win the 58-minute second set.“Unfortunately, my fitness let me down,” Rune said. “I knew if I had to win, I really had to fight for every point. With my body at this point, it was impossible.”Djokovic, despite Rune’s long affinity for Federer, has played a mentor’s role. They practiced together earlier this season, and when they met for a handshake at then net it turned into something closer to a conversation. It continued later in the locker room after the disappointed Rune left the court in tears, his towel in his teeth.Though it is easy to forget at this stage, Djokovic, too, once struggled with his endurance on court, only solving the problem in 2010 and 2011 after changing to a gluten-free diet. But he has proved to be a long-running champion.“I did struggle with injuries and retirements early in my career,” Djokovic said. “That’s why I can relate to Holger, what he’s going through. We just had a little chat in the locker room. It’s an emotional moment for him. It’s not easy to see that. He’s really sad. I understand that. I’ve been through that. I just told him that he handled himself extremely well. He didn’t want to stop. I thought he was going to stop at the end of the third. He just kept going with dignity, finished off the match. He deserved definitely my respect, the respect of a lot of people. He’s still very, very young.”Respect is a word that resonates with Djokovic. He has not always had the respect he deserves in New York, where he has won three titles. The crowd turned particularly ugly in 2015, when he defeated Federer in a four-set final, cheering on Djokovic’s errors and double faults, and interrupting his rhythm.In an interview the next day, Djokovic told me that when they had been chanting “Roger” he willed himself to pretend they were chanting for him instead.He did not seem to rely on such mind games on Tuesday night, and it must be said that “Ruuuuuune” in cavernous Ashe Stadium does sound a great deal like “Booooooo.”Even Rune was confused, and only learned for certain after the match what was being chanted. “When I heard that I was happy, because I didn’t understand it in the match,” he said. “It was a crazy crowd, the best I’ve ever felt in my life.”Who wouldn’t gravitate to a charismatic underdog, a young player wind-milling his arms in delight after hitting a winner against the best in the world? At some stage this tournament, you hope the New York crowd takes the full measure of the tennis achievement Djokovic is pursuing and what he has sacrificed to become this extraordinary a player. Trainers tried to help Rune with his cramps in between sets.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesHe seemed to be conserving his energy and emotions on Tuesday, and he may need to dip into his reserves over the next 12 days.Self-control is not his trademark. Witness his racket-smashing tirade in Tokyo just last month when he lost the bronze medal match to Carreño.But he took a break from the tour after that to refresh his mind and attitude. He is not ignoring the elephant in the room in news conferences.“As always you have tons of expectations and pressure from just the whole tennis community, including myself,” he said late on Tuesday night. “Obviously I would like myself to win, to go far, to win the title and make the history. Without a doubt that’s something that inspires me. But I am focused on trying to be the best version of myself every day. I know it sounds like a cliché, but there is a great power in being present and working on mentally and emotionally being in the moment and trying to handle it in such a way that would benefit you.”He remains a seeker and a tinkerer, hard-wired to optimize at the peril of trying to fix what may not be broken. But until proven otherwise, he is the game’s best big-match player and whatever the public is shouting from on high, down in the arena Djokovic is just six matches away from one of sport’s ultimate prizes.Next up on Thursday: a second-round match with the 121st-ranked Tallon Griekspoor. More

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      U.S. Open in the U.S. and Canada: What to Watch on Wednesday

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      Sloane Stephens and Coco Gauff will meet on the third day of action at Flushing Meadows.How to watch: From noon to 6 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN; 7 to 11 p.m. on ESPN2; and streaming on the ESPN app. In Canada on TSN from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and streaming on TSN.ca and the TSN app.Matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, the times for individual matchups are estimates and may fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern.LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM | 11 a.m.Andrea Petkovic vs. Garbiñe MuguruzaGarbiñe Muguruza, a two-time major champion, has never been past the round of 16 at the U.S. Open. After a pair of tiebreakers secured her first-round victory, she will hope to have an easier path forward. But Andrea Petkovic has beaten Muguruza in each of their three meetings on tour. With the last meeting in 2016, before Muguruza’s Grand Slam tournament titles, Muguruza will look to shake off any mental blocks and push past Petkovic’s aggressive style of play.Félix Auger-Aliassime of Canada will play qualifiers in his first two rounds.Angela Weiss/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesCOURT 5 | 2 P.M.Félix Auger-Aliassime vs. Bernabé Zapata MirallesFélix Auger-Aliassime, the 12th seed, overcame Evgeny Donskoy, a qualifier, in the first round, but needed four sets, with three tiebreakers, to secure passage into the second round, where he will face another qualifier.Bernabé Zapata Miralles beat Feliciano López in five sets for his first main draw victory at a major championship. The victory will propel him into the top 100 when the men’s rankings are recalculated next week, after Miralles secured three Challenger-level titles within the last year.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 7 p.m.Sloane Stephens vs. Coco GauffCoco Gauff, the 21st seed, eked past Magda Linette on Monday night, coming back from a set and a break down to win in three sets. Sloane Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open women’s singles champion, also needed three sets to reach the second round, beating Madison Keys, whom she also beat in the 2017 final. The two Americans will meet for the first time: Stephens will hope to overwhelm Gauff with powerful groundstrokes before the 17-year-old can adjust with a counterpunching rhythm.LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM | 7 p.m.Kevin Anderson vs. Diego SchwartzmanKevin Anderson and Diego Schwartzman will provide a study in contrasts in their fourth meeting on tour. Schwartzman, at 5 feet 7 inches, is over a foot shorter than Anderson, who is 6-8, and their heights define their style of play. Anderson has a powerful serve-and-volley game, which allows him to penetrate into the court easily. Schwartzman is more defensive, using his movement and excellent positional sense to outmaneuver opponents even as they limit his space.Sleeper match of the day.COURT 9 | 11 a.m.Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Pablo AndújarPhilipp Kohlschreiber and Pablo Andújar are veterans of the men’s tour. Each made his debut in the early 2000s. Each feels most comfortable at the baseline, grinding out points and wearing out his opponent. For the casual fan, watching them can be a demonstration of just how much effort a best-of-five-sets match can extract from a player. For junior athletes, it can be a lesson in patience and consistency. More