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    A Tennis Reporter on Familiar Grounds

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    Matthew Futterman, a Sports journalist, reflects on his many years attending, and later, covering, the Grand Slam tournament in Flushing, Queens.Times Insider explains who we are and what we do and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.As a reporter who covers tennis for The New York Times, I am often asked which of the four Grand Slam tournaments — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon or the U.S. Open — is my favorite.I admit I’m biased, as I’ve lived in New York most of my life. But my answer has never wavered: the U.S. Open.I’ve been coming to the tournament since 1978; I was a 9-year-old tennis-head who grew up in Westchester County during the American tennis boom. The tournament had just moved from the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills to what is now the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.I remember scant details about that first tournament. My parents took my two brothers and me. We sat way up in the red bleachers of Louis Armstrong Stadium, the venue’s main arena. It was hot and breezy, as it often is when you’re a stone’s throw from Flushing Bay. Roscoe Tanner was playing. He could serve the ball 150 miles an hour in spite of racket technology that is now considered ancient.The coolest thing about that stadium, which was later renovated, and then torn down and replaced, was that if you climbed to the top of the bleachers, you could lean over a railing and watch the action on the Grandstand court about 150 feet below. It seemed incredibly unsafe. But it was also awesome in the way that so much of New York in the 1970s and ’80s was — it felt dangerous and wonderful all at once.One year, my brother and I snagged seats a few rows up from the court on the Grandstand and watched Vitas Gerulaitis win an epic match in an early round. Gerulaitis, who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 1994, was one of the great New Yorkers, a Long Island boy with shoulder-length blond curly hair. The little bandbox of a stadium was teeming with fans screaming their lungs out for him.Like Gerulaitis, John McEnroe, another tennis great, grew up playing at the Port Washington Tennis Academy on Long Island. I knew people who knew them. An older cousin used to tell me stories of leaving Studio 54 at 2 a.m., just as Gerulaitis and his posse, which sometimes included Bjorn Borg, were entering the club. New York felt like the center of the tennis universe.In my 30s, I became a sportswriter and eventually a specialist who mostly covers tennis and the Olympics. Most people think I have one of the world’s greatest jobs. They’re not wrong. I typically spend about three months a year on the road, covering the major tennis tournaments and a handful of other sporting events. The two weeks when I get to sleep in my own bed in Manhattan and cover the U.S. Open are extra special.All the Grand Slams are great in their own ways, with many wonderful people, including new and longtime volunteers, who make them possible.I’m not sure any nation’s fans relish sport as much as the Aussies. The French Open has those beautiful red clay courts. Wimbledon has the tradition, but there is also the Royal Box, where princes and queens sit. But monarchies aren’t really my thing.Matthew Futterman at the U.S. Open, his annual pilgrimage.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesThe U.S. Open is how I think tennis should be: welcoming, with limited emphasis on staid decorum. The tournament is largely removed from its reputation as an elitist sport for the rich.We have Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, the Williams Sisters, Frances Tiafoe, Coco Gauff and many others to thank for that. It also helps that the country’s signature tennis event happens in a public park, rather than a private club.The stadiums aren’t hallowed grounds but utilitarian concrete boxes. Yes, there are some fancier, corporate enclaves and very pricey cocktails, but there is a lot about the space that signals inclusion; the complex is named for King, a woman who proudly identifies as lesbian, and its main stadium honors Ashe, a Black man and civil rights activist. Look around the grounds on a busy day and the place somewhat resembles the city that hosts it.Shortly after the tournament ends, you can reserve a time and play with your buddies on those same courts. I’ve hit plenty of balls there. I’ve watched one of my kids practice and play matches there. Try doing that at the All England Club.This year’s tournament is steaming toward the finish. So many of the big names have played deep into the tournament: Djokovic. Alcaraz. Gauff. I will be in the lower bowl, about 10 rows up from the court, for the men’s and women’s finals — two of my favorite days of the year — though the other 12 days of the tournament are sometimes even better.Shortly after the tournament ends, I will be shifting to The Athletic, the sports website that The Times owns, which will take over the traditional sports coverage for the company this month.I don’t know how many years I’ve attended the Open since 1978. Most would be a very safe bet, including in 2020, after New York had become a hot spot for the coronavirus, when I was one of a tiny handful of journalists permitted on site for the Open. It was like reporting from the surface of the moon.Thankfully, at The Athletic, I’ll continue to do what I do, including, of course, covering those other Slams and the U.S. Open every year, chasing the stories of agony and ecstasy that this beautiful and cruel sport always produces.Tennis, anyone? More

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      Naomi Osaka Makes U.S. Open Return. But Not for Tennis.

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      Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion, has taken breaks from tennis for her mental health and to start a family, but she is aiming to compete again in 2024.Naomi Osaka didn’t bring any rackets with her when she arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon. Osaka had no plans to play tennis.“For me, coming back here, it means a lot,” Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, said. “It’s like seeing an old friend that you haven’t seen in a long time.”Osaka was speaking in the main news conference room on Wednesday inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. She knows it well. It’s where she got to field questions from reporters on some of her best occasions, like her U.S. Open championships in 2018 and 2020. It’s also where she has been during low moments, including a first-round exit at last year’s tournament.“There were some tears shed,” Osaka said about the room. “A lot.”On Wednesday, Osaka had returned for a panel with Michael Phelps, the American swimmer who stands as the most decorated Olympian ever; Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general; and Dr. Brian Hainline, the chief medical officer of the N.C.A.A. and the chairman of the United States Tennis Association board.Michael Phelps, the decorated Olympic swimmer, said in the past he trained more intensely instead of reaching out for help with mental health issues.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThe topic of the panel, mental health and sports, is one that Osaka has spoken about often since she cited mental health concerns in her withdrawal from the French Open in 2021. Her exit then led to a break from tennis.Osaka, who turned pro in 2013 as a teenager and came to be seen as the heir apparent to Serena Williams, is away from tennis now, too. In January she announced she was pregnant but planned to play in the 2024 Australian Open. She gave birth to her daughter in July, calling it on Instagram “a cool little intermission.”On Wednesday, Osaka, 25, said she had plenty of time to reflect during her most recent leave from the sport.“It definitely made me appreciate a lot of things that I took for granted,” she said.Osaka did not say when she planned to return to tennis during the panel, but she later told ESPN in an interview that she had designs on playing in 2024, adding that she has been training and should be hitting balls soon.Speaking back in that room, Osaka alluded to the idea of having a long career.“I just remember watching the Australian Open and being very devastated because I’ve never missed an Australian Open,” Osaka said. But while watching, Osaka said, she thought about how late Serena and Venus Williams played into their careers.Serena Williams, who retired at last year’s U.S. Open, played until she was 40. Venus Williams, 43, played at this year’s tournament, losing in the first round of singles.“I was thinking I probably no way will ever play at their age,” Osaka said. “But sitting here, I’m like, you know what? I might do that.”Osaka said pregnancy gave her a lot of time to think, and that she felt isolated at times. She had to force herself to ask for help.“I actually felt lonely during my pregnancy just because I felt like I wasn’t able to do a lot of things,” she said.She added: “Normally I’m thinking, ‘If I’m going to be an independent woman, then I’m not going to ask anyone for help. Whenever something happens, just take it on the chin.’ But then I got to a place where I needed to ask for help.”For decades, many athletes have been reluctant to share their struggles with their mental health. It’s especially the case for professionals, whose jobs require them to push their bodies to perform at the highest level. But in recent years, athletes have gradually become more open about discussing mental health. Besides Osaka, they include the gymnast Simone Biles, the basketball star Kevin Love, and, in tennis, Amanda Anisimova, the young American once ranked in the top 25 who in May cited mental health concerns in deciding to step away from the sport.Among Olympians, Phelps has also led a push to speak out on mental health.Osaka spoke on a panel with Michael Phelps, third from left; Dr. Vivek Murthy, left, the surgeon general; and Brian Hainline, fourth from left, the chief medical officer of the N.C.A.A. and the chair of the United States Tennis Association board.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesPhelps, who has also faced mental health issues, said that, like for Osaka, working through those problems required realizing he had to reach out and ask for help.“I learned that I couldn’t do it all by myself,” Phelps said.After winning six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games, Phelps entered what he described as a “post-Olympics depression.” But instead of reaching out to someone for help, Phelps said, he compartmentalized his issues by swimming and training more.It wasn’t until about 2014, Phelps said, when he hit a “breaking point.”“I decided that something had to change,” he said. “So for me, I had to become vulnerable for the first time in my life.While Osaka didn’t say exactly when she’ll play again, when she returns the difficulties of life on tour will follow, such as time away from family and the pressure of competing in an individualistic sport. But this time, Osaka said she will be more comfortable seeking help when she needs it.Osaka said that she had two friends she counts on when she is dealing with loneliness.“I know I can reach out to them at any time, and I think it’s really important,” she said. “You’re not alone in anything.” More

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      This Year’s U.S. Open Belongs to Coco Gauff, Win or Lose

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      It has become clear that Gauff, at age 19, is the queen of this U.S. Open.It’s Sunday evening, a little after 6 o’clock, and Coco Gauff is going through her postmatch routine in the section of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center where players warm up before matches and cool down after them.Two other stars of American tennis, Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, who are among her close friends, are there, too. Tiafoe is winding down after his fourth-round U.S. Open win, which set up his all-American quarterfinals match against Shelton, who is getting ready to play a mixed doubles match. The friendly trash talk has begun, and Gauff cannot resist being involved. She knows just how to do it.Tiafoe, who spends a lot of time shirtless and does not lack for confidence when it comes to his rippling physique, and Shelton are playing this tournament in bright sleeveless shirts. Shelton looks better in his, Gauff tells Tiafoe.And, by the way, so does Carlos Alcaraz, the world No. 1, who beat Tiafoe in the Open semifinals last year and who is also playing in sleeveless Technicolor. “You’re wearing confetti,” Gauff says.Then she is off to boast that she has gotten the better of one of the princes of the tournament and to make fun of her 60-something coach’s penchant for Jolly Ranchers and the dad-rock tunes he keeps sending her. She must also pose for the endless series of selfies that so many, especially Gen-Z fans, desperately want as they pay her their ultimate compliment.“My queen,” they say of her.In the quarterfinals on Tuesday, the sixth-seeded Gauff will face 20th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, who eliminated top-seeded Iga Swiatek in her previous match. If Gauff wins, she will still have to find her way through two more pressure-packed matches to win the tournament. But over a week into the year’s final Grand Slam event, one thing has become clear: Gauff, at age 19, is the queen of this U.S. Open.Gauff, at age 19, has been a fan favorite at the U.S. Open.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesFans hurry across the grounds to get to their seats in Arthur Ashe Stadium before her singles matches. No one wants to miss her first fist-pumping “Come on!” or one of her ball-chasing points that go corner to corner, backcourt to net and then back again, and increasingly end with her cracking an overhead smash or with her opponent sending the ball into the net.The first-come-first-served seats on the smaller courts with general admission access begin to fill long before she and her doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, take the court. Organizers moved their doubles match on Monday into Ashe when space freed up in the late afternoon. They won.The N.B.A. player Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat is one of the many boldface names who have come out for her matches. Others include the singer Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey, a model and influencer. They were in the house on Friday for Gauff’s third-round win over Elise Mertens. Butler was there, too, and returned for her fourth-round win over Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday.Gauff’s reaction: “Again?”Perhaps this was the way it was always going to go for Gauff, who at age 10 earned a coveted spot in the training program at the tennis academy of Patrick Mouratoglou, who coached Serena Williams.Like anyone who saw Gauff on the court then, Mouratoglou came away impressed with her early speed, power and ability to change direction in an instant and make a quality shot. He called her into his office for an interview, something he puts all of his prospects through, and asked her why she thought she could become a top-level player. She had appeared shy on the court, but now she looked him in the eye from the beginning of their conversation to the end, and told him she wanted this more than any other girl.A lot of players say that, Mouratoglou said in an interview on Monday. He started putting her on the court in matches against players who were more advanced in their development than she was. More often than not, she found a way to win.At 13, she made the final of the U.S. Open junior tournament. At 15, she beat Venus Williams on Centre Court at Wimbledon and made the fourth round.Gauff, right, and Venus Williams shook after Gauff defeated her in the first round at Wimbledon in 2019.Tim Ireland/Associated Press“She is ready for greatness,” Mouratoglou said. “Of course, she feels the pressure like everybody does, but the difference comes from having the belief that you belong there, that you are supposed to do well, that you may be in the spotlight but you enjoy having that pressure, pressure that she has had since she was a kid.”Living under that scrutiny, especially when early success arrives, can have its advantages and drawbacks. Women’s tennis during the past decade is replete with players who won a Grand Slam event in their late teens or early 20s, then struggled for the next year to win three matches in a tournament.During her first seasons on the tour, Gauff was impatient to reach the top, given her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2019 and her run to the French Open final last year. Before this season, though, she spent some time studying the top 10 players and the recent Grand Slam tournament winners. She saw that many of them were peaking from age 22 to 26.She wasn’t yet 19, but she was about to begin her fifth season of top-level tennis. Her mother told her to be patient, that she didn’t have her “grown woman strength yet,” and said she would know when she got it.“I guess I’m not as mature as other players are,” she said one afternoon in Australia. “That’s going to come with life on earth, not how many years you are on tour.”Gauff waited for a serve while playing Elise Mertens.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesSome may disagree with that assessment. Three years ago, when she was 16, Gauff took the microphone at a Black Lives Matter rally in her hometown, Delray Beach, Fla., days after the murder of George Floyd.“No matter how big or small your platform is, you need to use your voice,” she told the crowd that day. “I saw a Dr. King quote that said, ‘The silence of the good people is worse than the brutality of the bad people.’ We need to not be silent.”This summer, she was one of the featured players at the Citi Open in Washington D.C. She had endured some disappointing results in the previous two months, losing to Swiatek for the seventh consecutive time at the French Open in the quarterfinals and bowing out in the first round of Wimbledon.But the role of a headliner at a midsize tournament comes with some responsibilities. Mark Ein, the owner of the Citi Open, watched as Gauff chatted with V.I.P.s, including a member of President Biden’s cabinet and a justice on the Supreme Court, as if it were business as usual. Then she went out and won the tournament, and Ein sensed there was something different about the teenager who had first played in his event in 2019.“She gave off this sense of being in control of the situation, both on the court and off,” Ein said. “Every once in a generation in tennis it seems there is someone who breaks through at a very early age, and the test is how you can handle it. The all-time greats seem to have a composure that lets them succeed.”Gauff’s ability to run down balls in the corners is one of her strengths.Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesSince 2019, Gauff’s face has never been hard to find on billboards at any tournament where she is playing. Still, her management team at Team8, the boutique agency that Roger Federer began with his longtime agent, Tony Godsick, has tried to take a slow and steady approach.She could have deals with dozens of companies. So far, her portfolio beyond the usual racket and clothing sponsors, New Balance and Head, includes only Rolex, Bose, Barilla, Baker Tilly and U.P.S.Gauff still sometimes rocks back and forth when she is speaking in public. She will giggle at herself in the middle of a sentence. She is still over a year away from ordering a drink legally in the United States.If she loses to Ostapenko on Tuesday or to someone else in the days ahead, time will still be on her side for a long while. But in many ways, her time has arrived. More

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      At 19, Coco Gauff Is the Veteran Player in Her U.S. Open Matchup

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      Coco Gauff, at 19, was three years older than her latest opponent in the tournament, Mirra Andreeva, who turned professional last year.As Coco Gauff and Mirra Andreeva faced off at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, fans in the stands remarked about how old — really how young — they were while competing at the top of their sport.Gauff, who at 19 is not much older than the 16-year-old Andreeva, has for several years been a household name in tennis, ever since she made a run to the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2019. Her growing stardom means that she often finds herself playing in featured matches at the U.S. Open, in front of the most fans in person and in choice television slots.On Wednesday, that was in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Andreeva at Arthur Ashe Stadium, playing ahead of Novak Djokovic. It was a matchup, and a moment, that Gauff, a sixth-seeded American, controlled with ease while keeping a breezy but brisk pace.Some of her confidence, Gauff acknowledged, comes with experience. When asked on the court what she had learned in the past three years, Gauff said that when she was 16, she played every match as if it were “life or death.”“You still have to allow yourself time to make mistakes,” she said. “And the losses, as long as you learn from them, are OK.”Andreeva, an unseeded Russian, said after the match that she hadn’t gotten much advice from older players on tour yet, but that she was eager for their wisdom: “I will always listen to them.”Andreeva, left, congratulated Gauff after their match.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesAndreeva played in her first tour event this year and has shown some youthful struggles in maintaining her composure on the court. In her last match against Gauff, at the French Open in the round of 32, she hit a ball into the stands, striking a spectator. She received a code violation and acknowledged that she could have been disqualified, calling it a “really stupid move.” She was also fined $8,000 at Wimbledon for unsportsmanlike conduct after throwing a racket, arguing and refusing to shake hands with the chair umpire.Andreeva has defended herself by saying that Roger Federer had outbursts when he was young, too, echoing an argument that other players, like Serena Williams, have made about whether women’s players and men’s players receive similar scrutiny for their conduct.Gauff, who has often been complimented for her composure, said this week that she debated whether to complain during her opening-round match against Laura Siegemund about the pace of play, with Siegemund often pushing the serve clock to its limits.“I really don’t like confrontation all that much,” Gauff said in her postmatch media interview on Monday. She said she had been thinking about the delays the whole match. “I wasn’t sure if I was in the right or not until it happened multiple times,” she said, but she reached a point of frustration and felt the need to speak up to the chair umpire.“I try my best not to let my emotions to take over myself,” she said.Gauff pledged ahead of her second-round match not to be flustered by her opponent this time, and to ignore age — her own and Andreeva’s. “She has her ranking, and that’s all that matters,” Gauff said ahead of their match.Instead, their youthfulness played out in the form of athleticism, as they traded long, sprinting rallies from the baseline and as Gauff found openings to inch forward and finish points.One rally in the second set lasted 30 shots, and ended with Gauff expertly handling a drop shot from Andreeva with a backhand approach shot for a winner. She celebrated that point by urging the crowd to cheer, a request fans quickly obliged.By then, it was clear that Gauff and Andreeva have had no trouble reaching young fans.“It’s amazing that they are so young and they have this amazing skill and talent to just be here and play on that court,” said David Keating, 10, as his father applied sunscreen to him and his twin brother, Michael.Gauff says she has been trying to ignore age as a factor in her matches.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesEve Maulshagen, who started playing tennis three years ago and just made her high school team in Central New Jersey, said in the main plaza at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center that she liked the idea that someone at 16 could be playing in front of so many people on TV. “That’ll be me in a year when I’m 16 — but not like a pro,” she said with a laugh.Gauff has been trying to ignore age as a factor during her matches. On Friday, she will play Elise Mertens, a 27-year-old from Belgium, in the third round. They have played twice, and Gauff won both matches, most recently during the French Open in 2022 in the round of 16.“I want to maintain a long career,” Gauff said during her on-court interview on Wednesday. “I have to really have fun on the court and I think I’m having fun with the wins and losses.” More

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      Life at a Grand Slam: What You Don’t See on TV at the U.S. Open

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      When Mackenzie McDonald dueled Félix Auger-Aliassime for three and a half hours in the opening round of the U.S. Open, fans were only seeing a glimpse of the time McDonald put in toward his surprise win on Monday.For both players, and hundreds of others at the sprawling tournament, a match day extends well beyond a warm-up and the contest itself. The preparation, of course, takes weeks and months, with the grueling men’s and women’s professional tennis tours pushing players to seek higher rankings to gain a more favorable path at the Grand Slam tournaments.And once they arrive in Queens, a new series of obstacles emerges as players adapt to the feel of the courts, the ambience of New York and the demands of one of the world’s biggest sporting events.McDonald greeting his agent Saturday morning before heading to Queens.The driver was able to get McDonald to Billie Jean King Tennis Center from Manhattan in less than a half-hour for a sponsor event on Saturday morning.For McDonald, the 28-year-old American who broke into the top 50 of the singles rankings in 2022 and upset Rafael Nadal in the second round of this year’s Australian Open, the preparation for the U.S. Open began on Aug. 22 when he arrived in New York. McDonald, who lost in straight sets to Borna Gojo of Croatia in the second round on Wednesday, said he trained hard for his first few days, then tapered a bit to recover before his four-set duel against Auger-Aliassime.Those practices, along with the travel, can become repetitive. Jessica Pegula, the American ranked third in women’s singles, last week compared the routine on tour to “Groundhog Day,” the 1993 film in which a man relives one day again and again. McDonald echoed that sentiment.“Things can get monotonous week after week, locker room after locker room, hotel after hotel,” McDonald said. “It’s good to have those small goals or little things that drive you that make you believe that you can get better.”Two Days OutTwo days before his opening match, McDonald couldn’t focus solely on his play. Before practicing on Saturday, he had to stop by a fan event put on by Wilson, his racket sponsor.His day began around 8:45 a.m. as he made his way down to the lobby of his hotel in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood. A driver and S.U.V. were waiting for him, his girlfriend and his trainer as they walked out of the hotel.McDonald volleyed with children and posed for photos and videos during an event for his racket sponsor, Wilson.On a normal day, the drive from the East Side of Manhattan to Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park can take up to an hour in heavy traffic.“It’s never easy,” McDonald said of the commute to Queens. “Day after day, it definitely adds up.”But on a Saturday morning, with little traffic and an assertive driver familiar with shortcuts, the ride was a brisk 21 minutes 16 seconds.The quick ride afforded McDonald some extra time to drop off his bags before heading to the Wilson event, where he spent about half an hour volleying with children, then posed for pictures and videos.With that commitment filled, McDonald could focus on more intense tennis for the rest of his day, starting by working with a physiotherapist and finding time to eat, and following that with two hours of practice.McDonald’s first hour of practice was scheduled at noon against Marcos Giron, another American player, on Court 4 near Arthur Ashe Stadium. As McDonald and Giron hit back and forth and played out points, dozens of fans stopped by to watch them. As their practice drew to a close, several of those fans began to gather courtside in hopes of an autograph or a picture. But McDonald had no time.After shaking hands with Giron and his trainer, McDonald quickly grabbed his bags and scurried off for his next practice on a court on the opposite end of the tennis center, nearly half a mile away.To avoid having players walk that distance through a sea of fans, the U.S. Open has vans that shuttle them and their trainers out to the farthest practice courts. McDonald and his trainer hopped in a van, but the driver wanted to stay a few more minutes to see if any other players would come.Already behind schedule, McDonald politely asked the driver if they could leave without waiting. In the early rounds of the tournament, when hundreds of players need to practice, court time is precious.“They definitely show the glamour of the sport on TV,” McDonald said. “It is all the behind the scenes, it is the day to day and the around-the-year tournaments that we play that really get us to these moments.”By the time McDonald arrived to his next practice court, it was just after 2 p.m., and the sun was beaming down with temperatures in the 80s. He trained for another hour before finally cooling down and heading back to his hotel to rest.Shuttle vans are available to allow players to move between practice courts without having to wade through crowds. McDonald had two hours of practice scheduled for Saturday afternoon on two different courts. He did not have time to sign autographs between sessions.Last PracticeOn Sunday, McDonald wanted to scale back his workload to only an hour of tennis, so he could be fresher for his match the next day. He still did not know his exact playing time, but because it would likely be in the afternoon, McDonald said he hoped to have an afternoon court slot on Sunday.He was scheduled for 4 p.m. against Lloyd Harris of South Africa on Court 5, where McDonald was scheduled to play the next day.“Way more of a chiller day for me,” McDonald said, adding that the rest of his Sunday would be spent resting, hydrating and taking “my mind off of tennis for a bit.”But even when he’s not training, McDonald said there’s other preparation that goes into playing a match, including creating a game plan and looking over analytics.“The mental preparation for my match on Monday started once that draw came out,” he said.Match DayBefore McDonald’s match on Monday, there were three others scheduled on Court 5, starting at 11 a.m. Being scheduled later in the day often leaves players trying to figure out how long each of those matches will last so they can plan an ideal time to leave their hotel.McDonald, right, played the underdog against Felix Auger-Aliassime, left, a Canadian who has been ranked as high as sixth in the world.McDonald was down, 0-40, in a game in the fourth set before rallying to win the game, set and match.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesBut trying to make those predictions can be a gamble when rain or a lengthy five-set men’s match can delay another match’s start time. At majors, McDonald said that he likes to arrive four hours before a match to be treated by a physiotherapist, hit with a partner for half an hour, have lunch and then prepare his sports drinks and rackets.“There’s definitely a lot of little nuances that go in part of each day that you’re really submerged in,” he said. “Everything’s invested toward what’s going to prepare me best to play this match today.”McDonald and Auger-Aliassime finally took Court 5 around 5:45 p.m., and after a quick warm-up, it was 5:51 p.m. when the umpire, Jaume Campistol, said: “Ready? Play.”From the beginning, it looked like the match was going to be a long duel. It took an hour and nine minutes for McDonald to win the first set on a tiebreaker.Auger-Aliassime took the second set, but after that, McDonald settled in. As McDonald and Auger-Aliassime played on, cheers from Arthur Ashe Stadium overflowed out of the venue, and they could be heard on Court 5. At one point in the fourth set, Auger-Aliassime appeared to complain to the chair umpire about the noise coming from Ashe.Eventually, after more than three hours on the court, McDonald prevailed, winning the last five points of the final game of the fourth set to win, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, and advance to the second round.Before his win, McDonald said that each incremental victory is what motivates him on tour. The drive to advance, he said, pushes him through long practices, commutes and extensive travel.“I want to win a title so bad,” said McDonald, who has made one singles final in his career, losing to Jannik Sinner of Italy at the 2021 Citi Open in Washington, D.C. “I always find that each week, your opportunity each week, can be that week that can shift things, and I think that dream is what we’re all chasing.”And after he beat Auger-Aliassime, the routine of mental and physical preparation began again for Round 2. More

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      A Field Guide to the 2023 U.S. Open

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      With the grass and clay seasons over, the eyes of the tennis world now turn to Flushing Meadows.The U.S. Open, played from Aug. 28 to Sept. 10 in Queens, is the last Grand Slam tournament of the calendar year, giving players one more chance to win a major title. Each year, the tournament creates a buzz around New York City, and it never fails to excite — or wreak havoc on sleep schedules, with marathon matches that can go deep into the night.At last year’s U.S. Open, Serena Williams largely stole the show during the first week as she closed out her storied career by reaching the third round of the singles draw. This year, without Williams, Roger Federer and an injured Rafael Nadal, a largely younger generation of tennis stars is looking to make a deep run in the tournament.Both of the 2022 singles winners are back in the field: Iga Swiatek, the 22-year-old from Poland and a four-time Grand Slam tournament champion, and Carlos Alcaraz, the 20-year-old Spanish phenom with two Grand Slam singles titles under his belt. But while Alcaraz and Swiatek are among those favored to win, you never know when a couple of teenagers could surprise everyone and reach the final.Here’s what to know about this year’s U.S. Open.How can I watch?In the United States, ESPN will carry the action from the first ball of the day until late into the night. Over Labor Day weekend, ABC will also broadcast some matches.Around the world, other networks airing the tournament include TSN in Canada, Sky Sports in Britain, Migu in China, Sky Deutschland in Germany, SuperTennis in Italy and Movistar in Spain.Kids lined up for autographs from Frances Tiafoe in Arthur Ashe Stadium after he practiced on Friday.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times‘Stand clear of the closing doors, please.’For those heading out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, the No. 7 train, which makes stops in Manhattan at Times Square and Grand Central Station, is one of the easiest ways to get to the U.S. Open.The No. 7 train stops at Mets-Willets Point station, which leads directly to the tennis grounds. (If you see a bunch of fans in Mets gear, turn around because you’ve gone the wrong way.) It also includes an express route, which makes fewer stops than the local trains, and on certain nights an even faster “super express train” is offered back to Manhattan. Another option is to take the Long Island Rail Road to the Mets-Willets Point station.Parking is also available at the tournament, along with designated ride-share spots. But beware: Heavy traffic often means that driving either in or out of Manhattan can take longer than a train ride.Baseball fans and tennis fans will mingle at the Mets-Willets Point subway station.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesCan’t get a ticket to Arthur Ashe Stadium?There is something electric about a night match under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium. The court is reserved for the tournament’s top-billed players, who are spurred on by raucous, Honey Deuce-fueled crowds. But a seat in Arthur Ashe can be pricey.Other options include buying a ticket to Louis Armstrong Stadium or the Grandstand, which both host a number of often-underrated matches and offer a closer look at the action. There isn’t a bad seat in either venue.Perhaps one of the best — and more laissez-faire — ways to enjoy the tournament is to buy a grounds pass and hop around from court to court. A grounds pass also offers first-come, first-serve access to the general admission seating in Armstrong and the Grandstand.Don’t sleep on those numbered outer courts, either. At last year’s tournament, Aryna Sabalenka, who won this year’s Australian Open, was down — 2-6, 1-5 — in a second-round match against Kaia Kanepi. The match seemed all but over until Sabalenka fought back to win the second set and eventually the third. Where did this epic comeback go down? Court 5, over by the practice courts.Spectators watched qualifying matches inside the Grandstand on Friday.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesWho’s playing?Novak Djokovic is back. After missing last year’s U.S. Open because he was not vaccinated against the coronavirus, as American travel restrictions required of foreign visitors at the time, the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion returns to seek a 24th title.Djokovic will enter the tournament in strong form after winning the Western & Southern Open in Ohio last week against Alcaraz. In the final, Djokovic was down a set, and he appeared to be suffering badly from the heat, but he rallied and forced a third set, winning on a tiebreaker.In addition to Alcaraz and Swiatek, other big names in this year’s tournament include Sabalenka of Belarus, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, Daniil Medvedev of Russia, Casper Ruud of Norway and Elena Rybakina, who represents Kazakhstan. Some of the top-seeded American players include Frances Tiafoe, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz.Frances Tiafoe made a deep run in last year’s U.S. Open.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesKeep an eye on these story lines.Elina Svitolina, a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2019, missed last year’s tournament while taking time off for the birth of her daughter and raising money for Ukraine, her home country, after it was invaded by Russia. Since returning to tennis this year, Svitolina made an impressive run to the quarterfinals of the French Open, and she defeated Swiatek to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon. (By the way, don’t be surprised if you see Svitolina or any Ukrainian player refuse to shake hands with Russian or Belarusian players.)Gauff, the 19-year-old who was a French Open finalist in 2022, enters the U.S. Open having won two titles this month, in Washington, D.C., and Ohio. In the semis of the Western & Southern Open, she was finally able to beat Swiatek, having lost the previous seven matches against her.Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams were both awarded wild-card slots at this year’s U.S. Open. Wozniacki, a one-time Grand Slam singles champion from Denmark, is back after retiring from tennis in 2020 to start a family. Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, shows no signs of stopping at 43.On the men’s side, Andy Murray, 36, is another veteran who is keeping on with three Grand Slam titles in tow, and John Isner, the 38-year-old American, was awarded a wild card for what he said will be his final tournament.Someone else to keep tabs on is Jennifer Brady, the 28-year-old American who reached the 2021 Australian Open final. After missing nearly two years with injuries, Brady is back on the tennis scene.Jennifer Brady made her return to tennis this year.Jacob Langston for The New York TimesSome big names are missing this year.One of the most notable absences will be Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam singles champion. He is out for the rest of the year with an injury and is eyeing a return next year.This year’s tournament will also lack some recent U.S. Open champions: Naomi Osaka, who won the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020, will miss this year’s tournament after giving birth to a daughter this summer. Emma Raducanu, who won the 2021 U.S. Open women’s title as a qualifier without losing a single set, is recovering from minor procedures on both hands and an ankle. Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is out this year with a small stress fracture in her back.Simona Halep, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, was withdrawn from the tournament because she received a provisional suspension in October after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug during last year’s U.S. Open.Nick Kyrgios, the fiery Australian, withdrew from the men’s draw in early August. Kyrgios, who has played in only one tournament this year, wrote on Instagram that a wrist injury was keeping him out of the U.S. Open.Naomi Osaka at last year’s U.S. Open.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesMark your calendars.The action begins on Monday, with the first, second and third rounds scheduled through Sept. 2. The round of 16 starts on Sept. 3, followed by the quarterfinals on Sept. 5 and 6.The women’s semifinals are scheduled for Sept. 7, with the men’s semifinals on Sept. 8. The women’s final will be played Sept. 9, and the tournament wraps up with the men’s final on Sept. 10.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times More

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      The U.S. Open Is King of New York. Could It Do More for Queens?

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      The U.S. Open tennis tournament will celebrate the 50th anniversary of equal prize money for men and women in the event, part of a legacy of equality and inclusion of which the Open is extremely proud. But many close neighbors of the U.S. Open have not always felt so included.On 111th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, in the shadow of the No. 7 train’s elevated tracks, thousands of people go about their business during the U.S. Open while having virtually no interaction with one of the most popular and profitable sporting events in the world.The U.S. Open employs about 7,000 seasonal workers from around New York each year.Kamal Alma and his family have owned the 111 Corona Discount & Candy Store, less than half a mile from Arthur Ashe Stadium, for over 40 years. Occasionally, during the week of qualifying and the two weeks of competition, some of the event’s temporary workers filter into Alma’s store. But he rarely sees tennis fans there and does not gain any noticeable uptick in business from the event. His children like tennis, but tickets for the main draw are too expensive.“Plus, I’m working all the time,” he said. “Who knows, maybe someday I’ll go.”The U.S. Open is one of New York City’s landmark events, drawing international attention to Queens while generating huge profits and employing about 7,000 seasonal workers from around New York. But for some, it could be a better neighbor.“We are happy it’s here,” said Donovan Richards, the Queens borough president. “It’s definitely an economic driver for the borough, for the city. But if it’s not benefiting the local community, what good is that for the people of Queens? When the three weeks is over, we’re still here.”Tommy Chan, owner of Tommy’s Doghouse, a food stand outside the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.Richards said that he had just recently begun to dig deeper into how the U.S. Open engaged with the local community and that he planned to attend an event hosted by the United States Tennis Association on Tuesday to discuss those matters. He said he recognized and appreciated that the Open donated money to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, on which the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center sits in its 40-acre corner, and provided funds to enhance local community projects. He just wants to see more of it, commensurate with the huge sums produced by the event each year.“I look forward to sitting down with the leadership to really think about ways this partnership can benefit the fans, the tournament and the borough,” he said. “Not to say they don’t give support. We need to see that support ramped up to address inequities outside the park and in the park.”Since moving to the Corona and Flushing area from its previous location at the tony West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, the U.S. Open has sat in its corner of the park pumping out revenue for the nonprofit U.S.T.A., which pays the city a percentage in rent for the privilege. In 2022, the event raised $472 million and paid close to $5 million in rent. The U.S.T.A., which has paid its top executive more than $1 million in compensation, builds and pays for the infrastructure, including the stadiums.Many fans squeeze on to the No. 7 train to get to the tennis stadium.More than 888,000 spectators attended the U.S. Open last year, and at least that many are expected this year at an event that is in some ways an annual contrast of culture and class.Many fans will drive there on the crowded parkways and highways adjacent to the stadium. Some will ride the commuter rails from Manhattan, Long Island and New Jersey, and others will squeeze onto the No. 7 train from Grand Central Station. And when they have seen the last ball struck for the day, most will make their way back in the same fashion, without setting foot in the nearby streets and restaurants of Corona, Flushing or Jackson Heights or ambling into the adjacent park, where soccer and volleyball players mix with in-line skaters, joggers and picnickers.“We never lose sight of the fact that we are in a public park,” said Daniel Zausner, the National Tennis Center’s chief operating officer. “We want to be a bigger player in the community, always.”The U.S.T.A. offers free admission to a week of professional tennis during the qualifying tournament before the main draw, providing an opportunity to attract future fans.Spectators heading to the tennis center from the boardwalk bridge that connects to the No. 7 train and Citi Field, where the Mets play.Omar Minaya, the former general manager of the Mets baseball club and now a senior adviser for the Yankees, grew up in Corona just a few blocks from where the Open site is now. He and his friends played football and baseball in the park before the Open moved to Flushing Meadows in 1978, and boxing was a popular sport in Corona, too. Few of the kids played tennis. Minaya said he still saw a positive overall effect from the event but recognized that it was not for everyone.“It’s brought a lot of attention to Queens, and that’s good,” he said. “But most of the people that go to the Open, they aren’t going into Corona. It’s more of a corporate crowd than a local crowd.”Lew Sherr, the chief executive of the U.S.T.A., said economic activity from the Open filtered across the region, and he pointed to a decade-old study that put the annual economic impact of the tournament at $750 million for the New York City area. He estimated that a similar study now would double that figure.“Although the stadium sits less than a mile away, it has no connection,” Donovan Richards, the Queens borough president, said of the tournament’s physical relationship to its neighborhood.But in Corona and nearby Elmhurst, two areas devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic, many residents have little or no interaction with the U.S. Open.Carlos Inga owns the Super Star II food stand in Corona Plaza, just off Roosevelt Avenue and 103rd Street. He has lived in Queens for 20 years but has never been to the U.S. Open, nor have any of his friends, he said. Sometimes he will see employees wearing U.S. Open shirts and badges, but rarely any fans, unless they get off at the wrong subway stop by accident.“There is definitely a disconnect,” Richards, the borough president, said. “Although the stadium sits less than a mile away, it has no connection. Those are the questions we will be raising on Tuesday. The same goes for the airports and the new soccer stadium. How do they impact the neighborhood?”On 111th Avenue, 111 Corona Discount & Candy Store is less than half a mile from Arthur Ashe Stadium but rarely sees any foot traffic from the tournament.More than 40 percent of the 7,000 seasonal employees at the U.S. Open are from Queens.“I love working here,” said Yvette Varga, a regular seasonal maintenance worker at the Open, who is originally from Ozone Park in Queens but now lives in the Bronx. “We would always go to this park, and still, every year, we have at least one cookout here. So for me, it’s like home.”Some employees have not had such a favorable experience. In 2022, three employees accused a U.S. Open subcontractor of wage theft during the previous year’s event, and the funds were ultimately restored after Zausner’s intervention.“I wish I had known in September so I could have acted upon it then, instead of hearing about it 11 months later,” Zausner said.The No. 7 train runs above the roads leading to the U.S. Open.A freshly painted bench at the entrance of the tennis center.In 2019, Scott Stringer, the New York City comptroller at the time, charged that the National Tennis Center had underreported $31 million in revenue from 2014 to 2017 and therefore had underpaid rent by more than $300,000. The U.S.T.A., in a letter to the deputy comptroller dated Nov. 16, 2020, and obtained by The New York Times through a Freedom of Information Law request, concurred with a shortfall of $143,296.61 and paid it.The N.T.C. also donates funds for the upkeep of the park, but more attention seems to be focused closer to the tennis center, where park benches along the path surrounding the perimeter fence bore “wet paint” signs on Tuesday. Farther away, the paint was chipped off the benches and litter was more evident.“If you look, it’s not as nice as you move away from the stadium,” said Tina Chen, a Flushing resident and a senior at Yale University who was walking her dog, Coco, in the park. “I think it’s good to have the U.S. Open here, for sure. But maybe they could do more to fix up the rest of the area, too.”More than 888,000 spectators visited the U.S. Open during qualifying week and the two-week tournament last year. More

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      In Tennis, a Higher Ranking Means Better Perks

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      Higher-ranked players tend to get the perks, like the better practice courts. The lower-ranked must make do.Eric Butorac played in the doubles main draw at the United States Open from 2007 to 2016. He vividly recalls his warm-up sessions on practice courts that were closer to the nearby subway station than they were to Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens.“We were lucky when we got to practice on those courts for any length of time,” said Butorac, now the director of player relations at the United States Tennis Association. “If we wanted a long practice we had to go off site completely, sometimes out to Long Island.”But Butorac, who reached the final in doubles at the 2014 Australian Open, never felt slighted.“I came from a small town in Minnesota and was just happy to be there,” Butorac said. “For me, it was more about gratitude than about feeling that others had been given more.”There has long been a hierarchy among tennis players, a distinction between the sport’s top players and everyone else. If Novak Djokovic, a three-time U.S. Open winner, wants to practice in Arthur Ashe for an extended amount of time, rather than outside the gates of the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, he is given that privilege. So are the defending champions Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz.Top seeds typically practice and play most, if not all, of their matches on one of three premier courts — Ashe, Louis Armstrong or the Grandstand — which affords them a major advantage. Ashe and Armstrong have retractable roofs, so by playing there, they get to avoid the disruption of rainouts, whereas the lower seeds, playing elsewhere, do not. Many players, of all ranks, also train on practice courts just outside Ashe, where fans can watch from courtside stands.Novak Djokovic practicing in Arthur Ashe Stadium before the 2020 U.S. Open. Djokovic has won the Open three times, and those wins have brought perks, like access to premiere courts for practice and matches.for The New York TimesBut for low-ranked players, doubles specialists and players who have gained entry by advancing through a qualifying tournament, finding quality courts to get ready for their matches can often prove challenging. Sometimes, less-accomplished players will arrange to practice with bigger names just so that they can share the more coveted courts.“When you’re playing the U.S. Open, it’s good to practice with Frances there,” joked 17th-ranked Hubert Hurkacz, referring to Frances Tiafoe, one of last year’s semifinalists.Many players agree that there is a have-versus-have-not culture in the sport. John Millman, who was ranked No. 33 in 2018, but is now at No. 326, wrote in an article, published in May on the Australian website news.com.au, that at some tournaments he received fewer tennis balls to practice with than high-rated players did.“Those new balls are being chased around by the big support teams that have received extra accreditation from the tournament,” said Millman, who also wrote that, in addition to being able to bring in more staff to help them during practice, bigger names are given the opportunity to book practice courts first. They then choose the more coveted earlier-morning time slots, so they can finish early.Alizé Cornet playing during this year’s Wimbledon. Cornet noted that, when she played on a featured court at a major, versus an outside court, she received more tickets to give to family and friends.Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesAlizé Cornet, ranked No. 11 in 2009 but now at No. 65, complained at Wimbledon that when she played on a featured court at a major versus an outside court, she was allocated many more tickets to give away to family and friends.“I’ve been almost top-10, I’ve been [ranked] 30 and I’ve been 90,” said Cornet, 33. “I definitely felt a little different when I was a seeded player at the Slam, but that’s how society works. The best you are, the more advantage you get.”Taylor Fritz, the No. 1 ranked American male and No. 9 in the world, sees bigger differences at small tournaments where it is customary for top seeds to be gifted luxurious hotel accommodations and more desirable match times.“Yeah, I think there are slight advantages, but I also believe that the players that get the advantages have earned them,” Fritz said.According to John Tobias, executive vice president at GSE Worldwide, a marketing and management company that represents top tennis players, many of them are given cars for their entourages, while other players and their friends, family and fans are relegated to tournament shuttle buses.Some players rely on accommodations provided at tournament hotels, while Tobias is often able to negotiate deals for his star athletes with upscale hotels that provide free suites in exchange for promotional appearances or mentions on social media.Cameron Norrie, Britain’s No. 1 player, thinks it’s funny that the better he performs, the less he has to pay for. After reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon last year, Norrie said that he was offered free coffee by his local barista and even had his dry-cleaning bill forgiven, even though he earned more than $600,000 in prize money for that Wimbledon alone.Many players agreed that perks for performance is a fair exchange. It’s when players are denied equal opportunities to prepare for tournaments that the situation becomes sticky.“This is a topic that has been going around for a long time,” said Daniel Vallverdu, Grigor Dimitrov’s coach and a former coaches’ representative on the ATP Player Council. “My feeling is that to get to the top you have to go through what the other guys went through. Everyone has the opportunity to go down the same path, to start from the bottom, to make it to the top or not. And those top players are doing a lot more for the events than the lower-ranked guys in terms of media commitments, sponsorship commitments and tickets sales, so you have to incentivize them to come.John Millman serving during a match at the 2022 U.S. Open. Millman wrote that top seeds are often given extra accreditation for their support teams, and the chance to book practice courts first. Mike Stobe/Getty Images“But when it comes to the opportunity to prepare, like access to the right gym, getting enough hours of practice, that’s where it should be as equal as possible,” Vallverdu added. “Anything that influences preparation, and that influences performance, should be very equal.”The U.S.T.A. is working to give equitable enhancements to all players at the U.S. Open. In addition to providing creature comforts such as recovery rooms and nap rooms, calming red-light therapy and virtual reality games, the association is offering new initiatives this year for players, including an additional free hotel room for a players’ coach or family member or a $600 per diem if players opt to find their own housing. All players’ and coaches’ meals on site are also covered by the U.S.T.A.The U.S.T.A. also gives all players competing at the Open a $1,000 air travel stipend and $150 to cover airport expenses, as well as five free racket stringings for every day a player has a match. There is also a new app that allows competitors to secure transportation, practice courts, meal allowances and match tickets. Coaches, who are now allowed to give advice during matches, are being given tablets that track match stats.“There’s no hierarchy in this situation,” said Butorac, who, as director of player relations for the U.S.T.A., also offers a suite to all players where they can pick out Open logo clothing, headphones or even a Tiffany bracelet.“This program is really geared toward players ranked No. 70 to 80,” he said. “The idea here is they won’t have to spend any money here, and they can take all of their prize money home with them.”Prize money this year has also been increased by more than 8 percent over last year with the men’s and women’s singles champions each earning $3 million and first-round losers in the singles tournament taking home $81,500. This year marks the 50th anniversary of equal prize money being awarded to men and women at the Open.Stan Wawrinka, a former U.S., Australian and French Open champion once ranked No. 3 in the world before injuries dropped him out of the top 300, knows the vagaries of being lower-ranked.“Of course, you have been through it differently when you’re at the top of the game and when you’re down in the ranking,” said Wawrinka, now No. 49. “That’s normal, and that’s how it is. And it’s always going to be like that.“I always believe it doesn’t matter where I am in the ranking,” Wawrinka added. “It doesn’t matter what court I’m playing on. Doesn’t matter where I have to stay. It’s always going to be special to be in a Grand Slam.” More

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      At the U.S. Open, 5 Artists Get a Place in the Sun

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      Five sculptures, created by artists from underrepresented communities, will find a place in the sun at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens until Sept. 11.Sculptures by five artists went on view at the U.S.T.A. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, Tuesday during Fan Week, six days of festivities and qualifying tournaments. The five works, which will remain on view until Sept. 11, are in collaboration with the Armory Show and the United States Tennis Association and serve as an extension of Armory Off-Site and the tennis association’s Be Open social justice campaign, which first presented paintings in 2020 from 18 Black and Indigenous artists at Arthur Ashe Stadium.This year, some of the sculptures have obvious associations with the sport. In “Now I Won,” by Myles Nurse, a larger-than-life, Wilson-yellow metal tennis player inspired by Billie Jean King is preparing to serve. On Tuesday, when a child began using the baseboard of the sculpture as a trampoline, Nurse said it did not bother him: He was relieved, he said, at the sculpture’s durability. (The sculpture had sold for $12,000 to a buyer in Miami a few days earlier.)Myles Nurse, “Now I Won,” 2022. His sprayed-steel sculpture is inspired by the tennis player Billie Jean King.Simbarashe Cha for The New York TimesNurse said he wanted viewers to visualize themselves within the stance. “You could see a champion within yourself by seeing somebody else reaching these amazing feats,” he said.Welding runs in his family. Nurse’s grandfather ran a metal fabrication business in Jamaica, which he continued after immigrating to the U.S.“It was in the blood,” Nurse said, “but I’m doing it from a different perspective.”Carolyn Salas’s work was also inspired by King. She said she remembered watching the fraught, but highly attended, match between King and Bobby Riggs in the 2017 film “Battle of The Sexes.” In her sculpture “Tippy Toes,” Salas compares the daily uncertainties and struggles a woman faces to walking on a tightrope.“There’s just a constant struggle between that idea of the masculine and the feminine as a woman right now,” Salas said.Carolyn Salas, “Tippy Toes,” 2021. Salas compared the daily uncertainties and struggles a woman faces to walking on a tightrope.Simbarashe Cha for The New York TimesOther artists left more open to interpretation.Jose Dávila’s artwork incorporates both industrial and naturally occurring elements. In his “Untitled Work,” a cerulean blue boulder is sandwiched between two slabs of concrete.“Many of the boulders I work with, I choose myself while walking in the countryside,” he wrote in a statement. “I’m interested in the primitiveness of rocks, of materials that have always been there, that will always be the same, that show the patina of time.”“To Rise and Begin Again,” by Luzene Hill, depicts a series of undulating aluminum columns. Hill placed a Cherokee syllabary character above each column to spread awareness of the lyrical language. The columns also resemble the New York skyline, built in part by the Mohawk ironworkers in the early 1900s. “The underlying part of all of my work” is survival, she said.Luzene Hill, “To Rise and Begin Again,” 2022.Simbarashe Cha for The New York TimesHill placed a Cherokee syllabary character above each column.Simbarashe Cha for The New York TimesHill’s father is Cherokee (her mother is white), and her grandparents were sent to the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pa., leaving her and her father unaware of their native tongue. Hill said she had become fascinated by the language’s collectivist, matrilineal perspective.“Indigenous people have survived 500 years of colonial violence on many, many levels and I’m really happy that’s my DNA,” Hill said in a video call from her home in North Carolina, located on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reservation.Like Hill, Gerald Chukwuma’s work has direct ties to his heritage. “Ogadiligmma” or the “Town Cryer” is a part of his Igbo Landing series, which pays tribute to the 75 West Africans in 1803 who took control of a slave ship off the Georgia coast and then walked into the water, committing mass suicide. Born in the eastern region of Nigeria, Chukwuma said the West Africans were his ancestors and that determination was an inherent trait.“When we decided not to be taken as slaves, it wasn’t something that happened by chance,” he said of his ancestors, “It was how we were created. That’s our culture. That’s who we are.”Gerald Chukwuma, “Ogadiligmma,” 2021. The sculpture pays tribute to the 75 West Africans in 1803 who took control of a slave ship off the Georgia coast.Simbarashe Cha for The New York TimesAs visitors holding tennis bags posed next to Chukwuma’s sculpture, buried in sea debris he collected from the Lagos shores, the artist said he hoped that his work would help raise awareness of the neglected Igbo people.“I’m sure if you listen closely when you get there you can hear him speak,” he said of the sculpture. “I’m sure he’s going to tell stories.” More