Like other building projects at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which sits atop soft, unstable soil, the new Louis Armstrong Stadium needed to be constructed with lightweight materials to remain structurally sound.
The stadium itself has been sturdy through its first week of the United States Open, but the women’s singles draw has crumbled within it, with three of the top four seeds losing there.
Fourth-seeded Angelique Kerber, the recent Wimbledon champion, became the latest top player to exit the Open at Armstrong Stadium, falling, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, to 29th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova on Saturday.
Kerber’s departure followed those by top-seeded Simona Halep on Monday and second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday.