8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo) Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, returns the ball to Linda Noskova, of the Czech Republic, during the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Sept.
Sabalenka was leading 5-4 in the third set when Noskova stepped up to serve. After Sabalenka won 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-6 (10-7), Noskova said the changing shadows had not bothered her. Because the match itself had started late, however, the process was delayed.
After she won that point, almost the entire court was in shade when the next point started.
“I did notice the roof closing right after the point, although it started closing even before the point, so it was weird,” Noskova said. “No one even told us about it, I guess. “Well, it was fine the way it was,” the Wimbledon champion said.
At that point, most of the court was still in sunlight. By the time Noskova played her first point, the shadow had moved close to the middle of the court. We didn’t expect it at all. “At the same time, I knew that the tournament wanted to keep us in the shade, and not have us play on the light throughout the whole match. But at the same time, it was, like, a crucial point of the match, so I don’t know why they started moving it so late. Since the roof was only being moved enough to create shade and was not being fully closed, the adjustment should have been completed during the changeover before Noskova began serving. “I feel like maybe in the very beginning it was more tough than as the match went on, but I don’t know. Didn’t really make a big difference for me if we were playing in shade or not.”