US Open Faces Bizarre Scenes as ATP Players Sent Away Amid Unexpected Issue

Even before the 2025 edition of US Open action kicked off earlier this week, weather reports didn’t paint a good picture. Why? Well, the first week of the slam in New York was expected to witness thunderstorms with temperatures around 25 to 27C. Guess what? The rain gods didn’t let the predictions fail either. Most of the courts have seen matches getting delayed or straight up suspended in last few days. But now it seems, another bizarre issue has affected the on-court action at the last major of the season. The recent case, however, is a different kind of anomaly amid the ongoing qualifying week ahead of the actual singles experience.

Going by the latest report, one of the qualifying matches on Thursday got suspended “due to issues with the court”. Speaking of the exact reason of the suspension, the X account @egdgeAI revealed that there was a “dent/hole” on the court. The encounter was about to kick off between Dutchman Jesper De Jong and France’s Harold Mayot.

Fortunately, the problem was resolved later as the match resumed between the two ATP pros. When it comes to the result, Jong beat Mayot with a score line of 7-6(11), 6-7,6-3. Jong will now play against America’s Mitchell Krueger in the last qualifying round. If the Dutchman wins this match as well (after registering two-straight wins in last two qualifying battles), he will successfully enter the US Open main draw.

Coming back to the match suspension issue due to the court not being ready, then it mostly pales in comparison to what’s already happened during the America hard court tournament in the past. Remember how several key matches were suspended during last season’s edition due to an ‘alarming’ situation?

When the US Open was disrupted by a fire alarm

Last September, at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center, the on-court action saw major obstacle after players were left stranded. Reason? A fire alarm that sounded at 3 pm local time in one of the buildings where the technical booth of the hawk-eye system was located. As a result, match officials weren’t able to use the technology on-court. The incident took place amidst a crucial encounter between Russian ATP icon and former US Open winner Daniil Medvedev and Nuno Borges. They were playing at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Undoubtedly, the two players were left clueless after the play was suspended. “Ladies and gentlemen, due to a technical difficulty with the line-calling system, we have paused the match,” the fans in the stands were informed regarding the issue.

But it wasn’t just Medvedev-Borges match that was stopped. Another battle between Caroline Wozniacki and Beatriz Haddad Maia, at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, was suspended in the aftermath of the incident. Overall, it snatched 10 minutes of play from the event. Also, the team running the hawk-eye system was told to briefly evacuate owing to the alarm in the technical booth.

Thankfully, the situation got back to normal after the USTA issued a brief statement. It read, “Following the determination that it was only an alarm, play was resumed.”

And then there was the 2023 US Open semifinal situation too. It saw the match getting delayed for nearly 50 minutes. It’s because an environmental protester apparently “glued his feet to the cement floor,” reported  NBC News two years ago. After the authorities removed the activist and play resumed, Gauff eventually beat Muchova. She entered the final where the then 19-year-old won her maiden slam after besting Aryna Sabalenka.

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