Rafael Nadal After Straight Set Victory, Complains About How Noisy Ashe Stadium is with the Roof Closed

(August 29, 2017) FLUSHING MEADOWS – After No. 1 Rafael Nadal’s first round 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-2 win over Serbian player Dusan Lajovic under a closed roof, the 15-time major champion said that it’s too noisy in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

With rain throughout the day canceling outer court matches, the roof stayed closed all day and night.

Nadal talked about the noise under the roof during his news conference:

“Being honest, is a little bit too much,” he said smiling. “You know, I don’t know how to control that or the umpire have to control that, because, yeah, at the same time is not fair only say that. The real thing is here, the energy and support of the crowd is massive. I enjoy it and I have unforgettable memories from this tournament and this court, because the energy is different from in other places.

“But at the same time is true that today, under the roof, was too much (smiling). Too much noise, no? I was not able to hear the ball when you are hitting, no?

“So I don’t know. I understand it’s a show, at the end of the day, and I enjoy that. I feel part of this, of course, but under the roof, you know, we need to be a little bit more strict about the noise, in my opinion, no? Because all the noise stays inside, and this is difficult, no? With the roof open, feeling change a lot.”

“But under the roof, the noise stays a lot inside. So that’s to fix a little bit. The USTA make an amazing improvement for the fans, for the players, for the TVs, for everybody with the roof, and now they can make it even a little bit better if they can control a little bit more that.”

The Spaniard said it’s difficult to hear an opponent hit the ball with the roof.

“Is tough. Is tough. Because if I not wrong, and you can check on the TV, sometimes I say to him stop with the serve, and he was not able to hear me. So you can imagine how much noise you feel out there. So difficult to analyze how the ball is coming when you are not hearing very well the sound of the opponent’s ball.”

The retractable roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium was completed last year at a cost of about $150 million dollars.