NEW YORK—The new roof at the U.S. Open has led to rumblings from players about the loudness in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Rafael Nadal was the first player of the tournament to win a match with the roof shut, as rain interrupted his second-round match against Andreas Seppi on Wednesday evening.
The fifth-ranked Spaniard said there was "no big difference" in playing conditions, but did acknowledge that it was noticeably louder on court than it was before.
"You get used [to it] later,” he said. “But in the beginning, in tennis, normally you are used to [playing] with silence … With the new court, even if the roof is open, there is more noise ... For moments [there] was [a] little bit too much during the points. I always love the energy and the noise of the New York crowd. Is just fantastic.
"...But [it] is true that [it] was a little bit more noisy than usual."
Nadal did not play the U.S. Open a year ago, when the first portion of the roof was installed. The second, retractable portion was put in this year. Players noticed greater sound under the partial roof a year ago, and it may have increased since.
Just before Nadal went on court, Garbine Muguruza and Anastasija Sevastova played in the stadium for the first time in their second-round meeting, competing with the roof open.
"I felt a lot of noise, a lot of noise, on the court," said Muguruza.
She fell in straight sets to Sevastova, who said the full stadium was much louder than it was when she warmed up on the court in the morning.
"But tonight it was really loud,” Sevastova said. “It was tough to play ... For sure it's distracting in the beginning ... I think she was also having problems in the beginning. I mean, you have to get used to it."
However, Simona Halep, competing in front of a more sparse crowd under a shut roof the following day, did not notice anything unusual.
"It was a great experience to be there,” she said. “I didn't have to wait for the rain, so that's a good thing.”
But as the rain grew heavier, the sound of the water falling on the roof added significantly to the decibel level on court.
"It was so loud,” Andy Murray said after his second-round victory over Marcel Granollers. “I've never played like that before ... You can't hear the ball at all. And tennis players do pick up the sound of the ball, to read the spins a little bit earlier and the speed of the serve. Makes it tricky. And that's something you need to adjust to and get used to.”