The crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium was growing restless, and so was Andy Murray. Murray, the 2012 United States Open champion, had just taken a two-sets-to-one lead on James Duckworth, and Duckworth had left the court for a bathroom break.
Instead of resting courtside, Murray stalked the baseline, bouncing a ball against his racket strings. Meanwhile, fans waited in line at nearby concessions stands, wondered aloud about how top-seeded Simona Halep had lost to Kaia Kanepi in the first match on Armstrong a couple hours before. They positioned themselves along the railing that rimmed the court’s lower-level seating area.