Fans React to Rain Disruption in the Louis Armstrong Stadium at US Open 2021

During action at the US Open 2021 yesterday, Flushing Meadows incurred the wrath of Hurricane Ida. With rains pouring down on New York City, the retractable roof of the Louis Armstrong stadium couldn’t prevent them from entering the court and disrupting the first-round match between Diego Schwartzman and Kevin Anderson.

Along with players, fans also suffered from the sudden change in weather. Some of those fans took to Twitter to depict their experiences while showing the conditions around them.

Fans share moments of rain interrupting the US Open 2021

Hurricane Ida brought rain along with strong winds to the East Coast of the United States. Although Louisiana suffered the most, the Category 4 hurricane did not spare New York as heavy rains and strong winds affected proceedings in Flushing Meadows.

In fact, the match between Schwartzman and Anderson suffered a delay of two hours and 30 minutes. After deeming the match couldn’t continue in the Louis Armstrong stadium, their match concluded in the Arthur Ashe stadium after Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Adrian Mannarino. During the wet weather, fans shared tweets displaying the damage done by the rains caused by Ida.

Some fans took to mocking the roof’s design, mentioning how the space left for natural ventilation allowed rain to enter the court.

The effects of Hurricane Ida also affected movement as New York City placed a travel ban on all non-emergency vehicles until 5:00am ET.

READ MORE: US Open 2021: All You Need to Know About the Rules of Retractable Roof

Poor weather also postponed Angelique Kerber’s second round match

Along with disrupting the Schwartzman–Anderson match, rain also caused a chain reaction in the fixtures of the day. Angelique Kerber and Anhelina Kalinina were to play the last match in the Louis Armstrong Stadium to close out Day 3 of the hard court Grand Slam.

However, the organisers were left with no choice but to postpone the match to today. The winner will face 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the third round.

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