NEW YORK (AP) — Linda Noskova was forced to serve while sun was giving way to shadows in a key moment of her U.S. Open loss to Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday after a delay caused the roof above Arthur Ashe Stadium to not finish adjusting in time.
The court was almost entirely covered by sun when Noskova began to serve with Sabalenka holding a 5-4 lead in the third set of their quarterfinal match. By the time she hit her first ball, the shadow line had nearly
reached the middle of the court. After Noskova won that point, the court was nearly completely shaded by the time the next one began.
“I did notice the roof closing right after the point, although it started closing even before the point, so it was weird,” Noskova said. "No one even told us about it, I guess. We didn’t expect it at all.
“At the same time, I knew that the tournament wanted to keep us in the shade, and not have us play on the light throughout the whole match. But at the same time, it was, like, a crucial point of the match, so I don’t know why they started moving it so late.”
According to the U.S. Open's roof policy “the roof may partially close on Arthur Ashe Stadium to move the shade line fully across the court to optimize visibility for players and broadcast.”
Because the roof was not being fully closed, only enough to shade the court, it should have been completed during the changeover before Noskova began serving. It did not because of a delayed start.
A full roof closure takes about six minutes, so play would be halted.
Noskova said following Sabalenka's 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) victory that she hadn't been bothered by the shadows.
“Well, it was fine the way it was,” the Wimbledon champion said. “I feel like maybe in the very beginning it was more tough than as the match went on, but I don’t know. Didn’t really make a big difference for me if we were playing in shade or not.”
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