Naomi Osaka calls for US Open spectators to learn tennis etiquette
Naomi Osaka has become the latest player to highlight the chaotic nature of the US Open, as she called for unruly spectators to educate themselves about tennis etiquette.
Osaka had recently defeated Katerina Siniakova in an entertaining three-setter on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The quality of strokeplay was high, but that did not stop ticket-holders maintaining such a hubbub of conversation that Marijana Veljovic, the chair umpire, had to ask the crowd to quieten on at least three occasions.
“If you come to a sporting event, you have to respect the sport,” said Osaka, whose previous match against Anastasia Zakharova had also been interrupted when Kader Nouni, the chair umpire, was forced to ask a group of influencers to stop taking photographs using ring lights that were distracting the players.
“Today, the umpire, she told everyone to be quiet more than I’ve ever heard an umpire tell a crowd to be quiet,” Osaka said. “In my first match … there was a moment where there was people shouting and stuff, and you could hear it quite clearly. I think it bothered my opponent, too.
“I feel like it’s common courtesy to read up on the sport, especially the etiquette.
“I feel like it could be a good thing for people to make the sport of tennis popular to their specific audience [as in the case of the influencers], but I think it has to be managed a lot better, especially in the situation like my first-round match [against Zakharova].”
The US Open has always had a very different energy to the other slams. Andy Murray, the 2012 champion here, has spoken about the “constant noise from the city, or planes flying over, and the subway”. But the various distractions – which also used to involve music and the constant smell of fried food – have only multiplied since Murray’s day.
Today the outside courts have a different flavour – that of smoke from cannabis, which was legalised in New York five years ago – while the US Open has become an event where people often seem to be more interested in taking photographs of themselves than watching tennis.
Another development over the past 10 years has been the addition of a retractable roof to Arthur Ashe Stadium. Even when the roof is open, the extra panels reflect sound down towards the court, creating an ambient hum which is reminiscent of an indoor swimming pool.
“I actually would say big thank you [to Veljovic, for calling for quiet] because definitely it’s loud,” said Siniakova, who is the world’s leading doubles player as well as a doughty singles competitor. “The crowd is moving and sometimes it’s not easy to hear the ball or even anything.
“Sometimes the people don’t realise that even when they’re like up [at the top of the stadium] and they are talking, you can hear it down [on the court]. Actually, in this big stadium, everything is going everywhere.
“I actually think it’s very different [on Arthur Ashe Stadium], and it’s difficult, because when I practise in the park, or even if I play matches, it’s much quieter, and you don’t really think about it. No one is walking there, no one is talking there.
“It’s really good for those [big] players. They practise there [on Ashe]. They have matches there because then it’s easy for them. They get used to it. I think it’s [a] really big difference.”
We had heard similar sentiments from Katie Boulter, the British No 1, on Wednesday night after she had suffered a one-sided defeat on the US Open’s second-string court – Louis Armstrong Stadium – under a closed roof.
“I struggled with the conditions,” Boulter said after her 6-1, 6-0 loss to seventh seed and recent Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova. “I struggled with the roof, the noise, I let things distract me. Maybe I’ll find time in future to get on court with the roof closed and get used to it. It’s not quite acceptable to have what I have today.”
A spokesman for the United States Tennis Association told Telegraph Sport: “The USTA is always striving to grow tennis in this country and bring new audiences into the sport. The US Open is our greatest opportunity to do so, and we welcome newcomers to our event. We want all of our fans and guests to have an incredible time when they attend, but we also need to ensure they do not interfere with the action and competition on the court.
“As a result, we have increased signage on the grounds and in stadium, and messaged ticket and suite holders to remind everyone to refrain from any activity that could disrupt the game, including noise levels, flash photography and ring lights.”
At the start of Thursday’s match – which opened the day’s schedule on Arthur Ashe Stadium at 11.30am – Osaka had walked on court wearing another ingenious fashion creation, thus continuing the eye-catching sequence she had begun with a jellyfish costume at January’s Australian Open.
After the gold-sequined dress she wore at the French Open referring to the Eiffel Tower, Osaka moved on to a white kimono at Wimbledon that evoked the Kill Bill character O-Ren Ishii, and then a hooded robe on Monday night that she said was a reference to NBA star Allen Iverson.
On Thursday morning, Osaka came out wearing what one fashion maven described as a “Thom Browne sheer jacket embroidered with pictures of tennis rackets and a pleated mesh skirt”.
She was not asked about the walk-on outfit at her post-match press conference, in a sign that the media world is becoming more accustomed to her creative choices.
– Daily Telegraph UK