S.O. US Open - Rafa captivé par l'éclipse ............

Eclipse captivates players, coaches at US Open

By Ashley Marshall
Monday, August 21, 2017

New world No. 1 Rafael Nadal may be the brightest player in tennis right now, but even the two-time US Open champion took a pause from practice Monday to ensure he didn’t miss the solar eclipse.

As the first total eclipse in almost a century cut a swath across America from the Pacific Northwest to the Carolinas, players warming up at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center for the final Grand Slam event of the year ensured they didn’t miss out on the much-hyped event in the Big Apple.

Even though the NTC wasn’t in the path of totality, around three-quarters of the sun was blocked by the moon passing in front of it, and between 1:15 p.m. ET to 2:45 p.m., players, coaches and staff all took some time to catch the partial eclipse.

Tournament  staff in the player lounge and at the practice court booking windows distributed 300 pairs of glasses specifically designed to look at the eclipse.

The lights on Court 17, Grandstand and the five main practice courts were turned on between noon and 4 p.m., so as not to disrupt practice, but other than minor pauses to check on the status of the eclipse, it was business as usual.

New world No. 1 Nadal paused several times during his practice on Court 17 to look at the natural phenomenon – through the safety glasses – and American Allie Kiick looked on in awe from outside the player garden as the moon started inching across the sky.

Elizaveta Kulichkova’s coach Kristijan Schneider said Kulichkova got multiple pairs of the glasses Monday morning so her entire team could watch the eclipse after her practice session, and several members of Tomas Berdych’s team took times sharing the glasses before their charge hit with Lucas Pouille.

As 2:44 – the time in New York when the moon would cover the largest portion of the sun – approached, many people on site could be seen staring up at the sky. Players could be seen shoulder-to-shoulder staring out of a second-floor window in the player lounge while staff, led by USTA President Katrina Adams and Executive Director and COO Gordon Smith were spotted outside Arthur Ashe Stadium gazing skyward

Comments

[Lil]

Le Soleil du tennis fasciné par l'astre solaire ... ou inversement ☺