“It’s Exceeded Our Expectations” – US Open 2020 Organizers Optimistic Despite Many Withdrawals

The US Open is set to begin on the 31st of August. Amid the pandemic, the tournament has faced a lot of uncertainities. With the Grand Slam facing an issue of player withdrawals. Due to the pandemic, many players have withdrawn from the Grand Slam citing the virus situation in the US.

Notably, the Women’s draw is hit more than the men’s. Only four out of the top 10 are participating in the US Open. World No.1 Ash Barty, World No.2 Simona Halep, and defending champion Bianca Andreescu are some of the big players to skip the US part of the resuming season. In the men’s half Roger Federer is out due to knee surgery and the defending champion Rafael Nadal has withdrawn due to the pandemic and the schedule. Gael Monfils is the other player from the top 10 to withdraw.

USTA Chief on the US Open Playing Field and Withdrawals

But in a recent press conference, the USTA is very optimistic and happy with the current playing field. Mike Dowse, the CEO of USTA gave his reactions to the withdrawals. He understands the player’s decision during these times. And it seems that the US Open had kept a low expectation on the turnout. Dowse mentions that they are very happy and the current draw has exceeded expectations.

“As far as individual players, we’ll respect their decisions at all times. It’s up to each individual player to make that decision.” Mike Dowse said

“As far as our field, in the context of the times and how different the world is, I couldn’t be happier. It’s exceeded our expectations. As I mentioned earlier, on the women’s side we have 10 former Grand Slam champions and seven former No. 1s, 81 of the top 100 players. On the men’s side, we have seven of the top-10 players in the world playing, eight former Grand Slam finalists, 90 of the top 100 men playing.” he added

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It will be a weird US Open with no fans in the stadiums and some big players not playing. But it is a Grand Slam and so we might see some surprises. There is still a strong playing field of young players with the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, etc on the men’s side and Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin, etc on the Women’s side.