Players In US Open Given Unique Privilege Unlike Any Other Grand Slam

With this year’s US Open played behind closed doors, the exclusive suite boxes are now given to the participants of the tournament. This year’s Grand Slam has a lot of new protocols that have never been seen before due to the effects of the global pandemic.

The complexes are state of the art facilities where one can view the matches in the most comfortable manner.

“It's nice to just be able to watch a match and not be disturbed, not disturbing anyone else,” said Sloane Stephens by way of Yahoo.

The 27-year-old was a former US Open winner when she was victorious in the major back in 2017.

“It's actually a very cool vibe to be a tennis player and also be, like, a fan and watch,” Stephens continued.

Several other players have also chipped in their thoughts on the new setup.

''Just sort of having some people around in a very empty stadium - the biggest tennis stadium that we play in - it certainly helped me, for sure,'' said veteran Andy Murray.

Having someone in attendance still serves as a big boost for Murray as it gives him additional energy that can help him in his matches.

“For me, it's not always, like, what the person is saying, but often when I'm playing, when there's big crowds and stuff, I often engage and make eye contact with people in the crowd,”

For the number four seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, he quipped that these areas could have been a bit more updated.

“I wish they had a picture of me in my suite, but they only have pictures of Serena, Rafa and Roger. I'll have to wait for that,” Tsitsipas said.

Despite the difficult circumstance, the players overall feel that the players' box is an additional privilege that they’re thankful for. This was echoed by 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys on how it’s a big boost for the players.

“Having a place that I can just go and there's no one else and I can just sit there by myself is really nice,” Keys said.

The number seven seed added that it’s something that she’s taken advantage of to prepare for her matches and recover.

“I spend most of my time on-site there. I eat all my meals in there. I do a lot of my warmup in there. I stretch in there. I pretty much live in my suite… I love that I can kind of peek out and see what's going on,” Keys concluded.