The earthquake that rattled the East Coast and the deadly Hurricane that forced the closure of one of the world’s busiest cities were forgotten as players and spectators made their way to Flushing Meadows for the year’s final grand slam.
Play began as scheduled on the outside courts at the National Tennis Center at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) and then two hours later on the Arthur Ashe center court after organizers gave the go-ahead as the site was largely undamaged by storms that killed at least 21 people and caused billions of dollars in damage.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was due to attend the official opening ceremony before Monday’s night session, featuring unseeded American Venus Williams and Switzerland’s five-time champion Roger Federer, the men’s third seed.
The only other player seeded in the top four of the men’s and women’s draw in action on Monday was Russia’s Maria Sharapova, who was due to face Britain’s Heather Watson.
Although she was not playing, Serena Williams also made her first return to Flushing Meadows since her foul-mouthed exit in 2009 to speak to the media after her weekend news conference was canceled because of the approaching storm.
The American was fined after infamously threatening a line judge during her loss to eventual champion Kim Clijsters two years ago. She did not play at the US Open last year because of a foot injury but is one of the favorites this year.
Quizzed at a news conference on Monday about her actions from two years ago, Williams remained coy about the incident.
“I don’t think about it. Are you still thinking about it?” she said. “That was like two years ago. This is like two years later.”
During the Sept. 12, 2009, match at Flushing Meadows, Williams was two points from losing when she was called for a foot fault— a call rarely, if ever, made at that stage of such a significant match. It resulted in a double-fault for Williams, moving Clijsters one point from victory.
Williams paused, retrieved a ball to serve again and then stopped. She stepped toward the lineswoman, screaming, cursing and shaking the ball at her. Williams was penalized a point and, because it happened to come on match point, the semifinal ended right there; Clijsters won 6-4, 7-5.
Williams, whose 13 Grand Slam singles titles include three from the US Open, drew an immediate $10,000 fine from the US Tennis Association and later a record $82,500 fine from the Grand Slam administrator.
She also faced a “probationary period” at Grand Slam tournaments in 2010 and 2011, and was told she could be suspended from the US Open if she had another “major offense.”
Clijsters, who won the 2005, 2009 and 2010 US Opens, withdrew from the tournament because of a stomach muscle injury.
“It’s sad that she’s not here. But, you know, when you’re injured, you’re injured. There’s nothing you can really do about it,” Williams said. “Last year, I was injured, and there was nothing I could do about it.”
In early action, ninth-seeded Tomas Berdych made it through to the second round with a 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over Romain Jouan of France on Monday.
Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist, had lost two of his last three first-round matches at Flushing Meadows. He has never been past the round of 16 at the US Open.
Jouan, a qualifier from France, was playing in his first tour-level event of the year.
Earlier, American teenager Ryan Harrison lost 6-2, 7-5, 7-6 (6) to 27th-seeded Marin Cilic.
Harrison, who upset 15th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic last year in his debut at Flushing Meadows, had chances to serve out both the second and third sets but was broken each time. He squandered a 4-1 lead in the third-set tiebreaker.
After he was broken to lose the second set, the 19-year-old Louisiana native — known for his fiery temper— skidded his racket across the court and received a smattering of boos from the American crowd.
Cilic, from Croatia, won his first Grand Slam match since the Australian Open and will play either Michael Yani or Bernard Tomic in the second round.
