NEW YORK—On Monday night, the U.S. Open allowed ESPN to conduct a mid-match television interview during CoCo Vandeweghe's first-round match with Sloane Stephens. The move stirred up talk among players, but many appear reluctant to agree to giving an interview during their own matches. Under the new rule, a player can be interviewed courtside during a match only if they give permission.
CoCo Vandeweghe spoke to ESPN's Pam Shriver after winning the first set. She said she had been approached by the network before the match.
"It would be in between sets. If I didn't want her out there I could just wave her away at any point in time. I could say it two seconds before I walked out on the court. I gave her the nod to go ahead, and then it happened," Vandeweghe said.
The American did not find the interview unduly distracting. "Well, that was my original thought when I was approached about the idea," she said. "But, you know, there's lots of distractions that go on during a tennis match. If you aren't able to put those distractions aside, then you need to kind of definitely work on that aspect of your game. When I was just in the moment. It felt right, so I did it. Maybe another time I'll be not feeling it as much and I'll tell Pam to go sit back down, which might be equally as fun."
Vandeweghe's cooperation and willingness was praised by Shriver and other ESPN commentators. "She was very complimentary and was really proud of me of being innovative in that way," Vandeweghe said. "I didn't even think of it like that. So I just thought of it as, you know, being a sports fan myself, getting insight into an athlete's head."
Djokovic was intrigued by the move, but would not have agreed to it himself.
"No. But I think it's interesting. I didn't hear about it before," he said. "If she didn't mind—and I see that she didn't because she won the match—it just depends from player to player. What I think they're trying to do here is kind of implement a same kind of media interaction as in, for example, other sports, like basketball after first or second quarter. I don't know how much it can really work in tennis, but I think the impression of this first interview has been made."
The world No. 1 indicated that, at the moment, he is not interested in participating. "I think most players in the locker room are talking about [it]," he said. "It's going to be interesting to see if somebody is going to follow up and accept to do the same. I will not, definitely, this tournament."
Players also reacted on social media, mostly questioning the idea.