Seth Wenig/Associated Press
It is an unprecedented situation: a United States Open with no spectators in a strictly controlled environment with competitors and their teams unable to venture beyond the tennis venue and their lodging.
And one of the wrinkles of the decision to restart the 2020 season after a five-month break comes for the men’s players as they play best-of-five-set matches.
Not only do they have to search for top gear almost immediately by playing in that format in a Grand Slam tournament. They must then cross an ocean and do it again later this month on a different surface at the French Open, the Grand Slam event in Paris that has been moved from its usual dates in May and June because of the coronavirus pandemic.