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Vegetable juice, squirrels and endless bus rides - the strange life in the US Open bubble

In the huge concrete bowl of the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the world's best tennis players are not looking at the usual chaos in the stands these days. But they do get to see a familiar face at the Ghost Grand Slam, friends or family members are switched on on a large screen after the matches.

by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Sep 04, 2020, 02:22 pm

Wer gewinnt? Tippt jetzt!
Arthur Ashe Stadium will remain empty this year
© Getty Images
Arthur Ashe Stadium will remain empty this year

The surprise is always big, and it was no different with Naomi Osaka, the winner of 2018. As soon as the Japanese had won her second round match against the Italian Camila Giorgi, her mother Tamaki appeared on the huge screen. “Mom, what are you doing there”, Osaka exclaimed, “Oh, my God. Where's Dad? ”The technology stuttered a little, you couldn't understand much of the conversation between mother and daughter. But Osaka later clarified the matter somewhat embarrassed at the virtual Zoom press conference. "Mom told me not to surf the internet so much, on social media," said the 22-year-old, "and she also told me to drink my green vegetable juice and relax." Osaka smiled again in short, then added, "Everything a little crazy."

Welcome to the New York tennis bubble. Welcome to the involuntarily most memorable Grand Slam tournament in the history of the sport. Welcome to a small, isolated private universe that consists of no more than two player hotels and a tournament venue that has been transformed into a kind of fortress for reasons different from about two decades ago. In 2002, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center the year before, the US Open was already an absolute high-security zone, with armored shielding. Now the enemy is called Corona, an invisible virus that leaves extremely visible traces. For example in the presence of hundreds of security guards who are supposed to maintain the construction called "Biobubble" around the tournament location. And for example in the absence of the normal, hated and loved US Open chaos, in the absence of crowds, the absence of noise, roaring and screaming. “You have to be very careful what you say on the pitch. Even more than usual, "says the experienced Grand Master Serena Williams," you hear every word. You hear it like an echo. "

Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner, is one of the privileged on the scene. Just like all seeded players, she has been assigned a suite in Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis stadium in the world. From there you can watch the matches of the other professionals, but you can also simply draw a blind, take care of your own coffee machine or even lie down for a nap. Last year's finalist Daniil Medvedevs calls it “comfortable”, “it's like a hotel room on the Center Court.” In order to beautify the stay in the exclusive living space a bit, Serbia's ex-great Janko Tipsarevic has even created an upgrade: For the In the suite of his protégé Filip Krajinovic he bought green plants and flowers, a red carpet was laid out in front of the entrance door with a wink. Suite neighbor Novak Djokovic was also enthusiastic: “Janko should become a designer. He also has the green thumb. "

Back to the little distractions

Aside from the serious headline theater about France's eccentric Benoit Paire and his positive corona test, the migrant tennis workers are now taking their existence in the bubble with sarcasm - hardly anyone wants to complain at a high level anyway. “You notice how hungry everyone is for great tennis,” says the 2020 Australian Open winner, Sofia Kenin (USA), “we're just happy to be able to play again.” Life in the bubble, too often referred to as a "bladder problem", it is quite monotonous, manageable, but also occasionally calming. "In the evenings I sit down on the lawn in front of the hotel," Jan-Lennard Struff reported to the "Sportschau" Internet portal, "I saw a squirrel and a little rabbit running around." Back to nature, back to the simple, small distractions - the Grand Slam organizer, the United States Tennis Association, does not lack offers. “I am also happy when I can play a round of mini golf,” says Canada's youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime. The temporary mini-golf facility is set up near the large fountain, where otherwise thousands and thousands of people scurry to the courses. There are also basketball hoops around, you can play soccer, practice on the golf simulator. Or follow a match of a friend or a rival somewhere, sometimes it's one and the same.

Some of the nomad troops have risen to the top ranks of the Center Court in the past few days - where you can admire the skyscraper skyline of New York in all its beauty, this eternal postcard motif. The high-rise giants look close, but they will be unreachable in autumn 2020. Not a single professional has set foot on the streets of Manhattan, every morning and evening the path now leads from the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in the other direction, towards Long Island to the hotels. “Driving the bus until you drop”, often an hour there and back, is part of everyday life, says Swabian Laura Siegemund, it is somehow very exhausting. But one is even happier "that it started again." Of course, there is a "great longing" for normality, for crowded spectators, for the familiar atmosphere, but you also have to be a realist: "When it will be back, nobody knows. "

The Billie Jean King Tennis Center, or BJKTC for short, will inevitably become even more spacious every day. Many professionals have to pack their bags, get out of the bubble, into the next Corona everyday life somewhere in the world and at the next tournament. “I could get used to this,” says Serena Williams, the tall, older lady of the circuit, “especially if I were in the final next week.” And then could win title number 24 as well long-chased record title.

by Jörg Allmeroth

Friday
Sep 04, 2020, 04:15 pm
last edit: Sep 04, 2020, 02:22 pm