TEMPORARY ARMSTRONG STADIUM LAYS AN EGG ON WEDNESDAY AT U.S. OPEN: FOOD, PLEASE!

Written by: Staff on 30th August 2017

TEMPORARY ARMSTRONG STADIUM LAYS AN EGG ON WEDNESDAY AT U.S. OPEN: FOOD, PLEASE!

epa06172762 Lucas Pouille of France serves to Jared Donaldson of the US on the third day of the US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 30 August 2017. The US Open runs through September 10. EPA-EFE/ANDREW GOMBERT |

Temporary Armstrong Stadium lays an egg on Wednesday at U.S. Open: Food, please!

By Ricky Dimon

Not all the precincts are reporting after just three days of the U.S. Open, but early returns are not favorable for the new, temporary Louis Armstrong Stadium.

First of all, it–along with the structure that will soon become the permanent Louis Armstrong Stadium–are occupying the space where the old Grandstand used to be. So that is already one automatic strike against it, because nothing well ever be as good as the old Grandstand. Not at this tournament. Not at any tournament. Second of all, any temporary court should be all general admission. Obviously it isn’t, because the tournament wants to sell premium tickets and make money. But it should be. Thirdly, old Louis Armstrong and old Grandstand used to be connected. Now the new Grandstand is on the opposite end of the grounds, closer to everything else. Thus the new Louis Armstrong is isolated in a remote part of Billie Jean King National Tennis Center and not particularly close to anything. Thus it isn’t attracting fans, because only the die-hards want to walk from the friendly confines of Arthur Ashe or the practice courts or the food court all the way to Louis Armstrong.

And I haven’t even gotten to the food situation.

A temporary court also means temporary dining. There is one restaurant by Louis Armstrong and it’s basically serving food out of a trailer. Although “serving food” belongs in quotation marks. Before noon, they were already out of chicken fingers, french fries, and chicken caesar wraps. They also had no working receipt machines. So even if you actually had the success of ordering a food item that was present, you couldn’t get a receipt for your efforts.

The tennis wasn’t particularly good at Louis Armstrong on Wednesday, either. Nick Kyrgios was plagued by a shoulder injury and bowed out listlessly in four sets to fellow Australian John Millman. Steve Johnson lost in straight sets to Kyle Edmund. At least the home crowd got to see John Isner win, but even his match was far from engrossing (a straight-set beatdown of Hyeon Chung).

For whatever it’s worth, Isner is kind of a fan of the new court. After all, he’s won two matches on it already.

“It’s a very different feel, of course, than old Armstrong,” the 10th seed commented. “It’s definitely a different feel. But the court itself, I really enjoyed. I guess it’s just a one-year thing, so…. I liked playing out there. I wouldn’t mind playing out there again. It was a good court.

“Ever seen the old movie Hoosiers? Every basket is 10 feet. A tennis court is a tennis court. It’s the same.”

It may be the same, but right now it does not feel equal. Not to the Louis Armstrong of old. But who knows? Three days do not a full tournament make. Two of the matches out there tomorrow are Grigor Dimitrov vs. Andrey Rublev and Dominic Thiem vs. Taylor Fritz. Those showdowns have serious potential.

And…dare I say it…maybe they’ll even have chicken fingers to offer this time!