Errani and Vavassori win revamped US Open mixed doubles to defend their title
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San Francisco Chronicle
8 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
At the US Open, tennis stars shine under dark sky-friendly outdoor lights
NEW YORK (AP) — When the court lights flicker on at the U.S. Open, tennis stars shine under illumination designed to cut light pollution. The wedge-shaped lamps around the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows direct light onto the players without spewing it into the surrounding skies. The stadium complex is the only professional sports venue certified by a group that's trying to preserve the night sky around the world. Across North America and Canada, schools and local parks have also swapped out their lights on baseball fields, running tracks and other recreation grounds to preserve their view of the stars and protect local wildlife. Night lights can disrupt bird migration and confuse nocturnal critters like frogs and fireflies. Lights on sports fields are especially bright and cool, and often cast their glare into neighborhoods. In renovations over the past decade, the U.S. Tennis Association swapped metal halide bulbs for shielded LED lights. The complex's 17 tournament courts — including Arthur Ashe Stadium — and five practice courts were approved as dark sky-friendly last year. USTA officials wanted the best lighting possible on their courts, which also happened to be friendly to dark skies. Their lighting company suggested striking a balance that would satisfy crowds and TV crews while cutting down spillover into the surrounding environment. 'This is an international event that has an impact on the community,' said the USTA's managing director of capital projects and engineering Chuck Jettmar. 'Let's minimize that and make sure that everybody's happy with it.' U.S. Open qualifying matches this week were punctuated by players grunting, crickets chirping and audiences cheering. Rows of lights stood like sentries above, adorned with flat visors that guided the glow onto the action. The lights at Flushing Meadows glow at a quarter of their brightness when the courts are rented for play during the year. They're approved by DarkSky International, a nonprofit that gives similar designations to cities and national parks. The group widened its focus to include sports arenas in recent years and has certified over 30 venues since 2019 — including high school football fields and youth soccer fields. 'We live in a world where we need to engage with one another in the nighttime environment, and that's OK,' said DarkSky spokesperson Drew Reagan. 'That's a beautiful thing and there's a way to do that responsibly.' The organization typically approves proposals at sports fields before any light fixtures are installed or replaced. Once construction is complete, a representative measures the glow and glare against a set of guidelines that benefit the night. Renovating a field with dark skies in mind can cost about 5% to 10% more than traditional sports lighting, according to James Brigagliano, who runs DarkSky's outdoor sports lighting program. Venues may require a few extra fixtures since the light shining from them is more targeted. Most arenas make the change during scheduled maintenance and renovation, working with sports lighting company Musco. The company lights over 3,000 venues a year including college football stadiums, tennis courts and rail yards. At Superstition Shadows Park in Apache Junction, Arizona, kids play T-ball and baseball in the evenings, when the darkness offers a brief respite from the summer heat. The city's parks and recreation department replaced its already-aging lights with shielded, dark sky-friendly fixtures last year with federal and local government funding. People venture to Apache Junction partly because 'they can get out of the city and still see stars,' said the city's parks and recreation director Liz Langenbach. The city is at the edge of the Phoenix metro area, bordered by rolling mountains and sweeping deserts. 'The choices we make on lighting, I think, affect all of that,' Langenbach said. At Université Sainte-Anne in Canada, students run on a new track and soccer field outfitted with lights that DarkSky approved last year. Researchers at the university study native, nocturnal animals like the northern saw-whet owl. The lights are "good for everyone,' said university spokesperson Rachelle LeBlanc. 'For tourism, for our students, for our neighbors, for the animals that we share our campus with.' How to cut light pollution Night lights harm the surrounding environment no matter how shielded they are. DarkSky-approved fields still allow a small fraction of their light to be pointed up since it's necessary to keep track of flying balls. 'You can have the absolute best, most carefully designed stadium lighting in the world, and you're still creating light pollution,' said Travis Longcore, an urban light pollution expert at the University of California, Los Angeles. The U.S. Open courts are side-by-side with bright lights from Manhattan and Queens — so they can only darken a slice of the sky. But DarkSky says every light fixture makes a difference, and one professional arena can influence others. 'I'm not saying we as humans have to turn all the lights off,' said Longcore. 'I think you have to make improvements from where you are.'
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
American tennis star Coco Gauff makes major change just days before US Open
Coco Gauff is making a big change before her start at the 2025 U.S. Open in New York. The American tennis star has parted ways with Matt Daly, one of her coaches, while bringing in biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, according to multiple reports. "Only have good things to say about Coco, enjoyed working with her," Daly told Bounces, confirming their split. Why would the 21-year-old make the switch now before the final Grand Slam of the year? The answer may have to do with her serve. Since her shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon, Gauff has struggled with her serve, which plays a tremendous factor in beating the best in the world, especially in tournaments like the U.S. Open. MacMillan has a history of fixing one of the best serves in women's tennis, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka used his expertise to correct that part of her game. MacMillan was spotted on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court Wednesday morning as Gauff was hitting with Elina Svitolina. "A lot of things add up, and this could be a really good relationship," ESPN's Darren Cahill told Forbes about Gauff and MacMillan. "He's very thorough. …I've spoken to him many, many times before, and the fact that he's got experience with different athletes from different sports, both male and female, he uses the new technology, he goes to the video a lot, really breaks down the biomechanics." MacMillan is the founder of Sports Science Lab, which specializes in sports performance, fitness, and physical rehabilitation. Gauff's game hasn't been completely off this year, having won the French Open back in May. But her serve has been inconsistent, and she clearly wants to get ahead of that before a tournament many across the U.S. would love to see her win again on home soil. Gauff was the 2023 champion in Flushing, Queens, but she was unable to defend her title in 2024 as she lost in the fourth round. Sabalenka went on to defeat another American, Jessica Pegula, in straight sets to claim the victory. Gauff fired her coach, Brad Gilbert, following that fourth-round exit at the U.S. Open.
NBC News
3 hours ago
- NBC News
Errani and Vavassori win revamped U.S. Open mixed doubles to defend their title
NEW YORK (AP) — Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori weren't even sure they would get to defend their U.S. Open mixed doubles title. Organizers revamped the tournament because they wanted singles superstars, not doubles specialists. They not only made it back to New York, they made it back to the top. The Italians beat No. 3 seeds Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud 6-3, 5-7 (10-6) on Wednesday night, winning four matches over two days to earn $1 million— a huge raise over their earnings in New York last year in a format that looked nothing like this one. Errani and Vavassori were among the many critics of the changes to the event that shut out every other traditional doubles pairing, but had nothing but smiles — and plenty of hugs — after building a quick lead in the match tiebreaker and holding on in front of a large crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. 'I think it was important for us to play,' Vavassori said. 'Like, I have to say the initiative was also important because it was really a statement that doubles can become something better. The stadium was packed. The people were enjoying it. If something doesn't work — like, we showed today that it's working. Like, the people were going crazy.' It was a setting rarely enjoyed by doubles players and what U.S. Open organizers sought when they overhauled their tournament, moving it to well before singles play starts Sunday in hopes that tennis' best-known players would play. Many of them did. But in the end, the event belonged to the doubles duo. Eight teams in the 16-team field qualified by their players' combined singles rankings, with the remaining teams given wild cards. Errani doubted the Italians were going to get one. They eventually did and became the first repeat mixed doubles champions in Flushing Meadows since Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray in 2018-19. Both repeatedly said they were representing the many doubles players who never had the chance to come to New York with them this year. 'I think this one is also for them,' Errani said. The event drew past U.S. Open singles champions Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Raducanu, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka and Daniil Medvedev, all of whom lost on the first day. Even without them, almost all the seats were full for the three matches Wednesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the roof closed after it rained most of the afternoon. Ruud acknowledged that the U.S. Tennis Association took a bold risk with its changes, with critics saying it turned the championship, with shortened sets to 4 games in the first three rounds, into a glorified exhibition, rather than the two-week, 32-event of the past. But even players who specialize in doubles agreed that the event got way more attention than they are accustomed to. 'Any time you get a full crowd like this, how can we keep that going?' Christian Harrison said after he and Danielle Collins lost 4-2, 4-2 to Errani and Vavassori in the semis. 'I mean, unreal night. I won't forget this night.' Swiatek and Ruud edged the top-seeded team of Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper 3-5, 5-3 (10-8) in the other semifinal, battling back from an 8-4 deficit in the match tiebreaker. The No. 2-ranked Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, and Ruud, who has reached three major singles finals, then played well in the final. But they couldn't match the doubles prowess of the Italians, who won a second major title together at this year's French Open. Vavassori, with his height and constant movement around the net, was a hard target to pass even for Swiatek and Ruud, two accurate ball strikers from the baseline. 'I think in doubles we showed it's very important know how to play doubles,' Errani said. 'In doubles it's not just serving good, hitting good, returning good. There are many other things that are not easy.' Errani is one of the most accomplished women's doubles players ever, having won a career Grand Slam with former partner Roberta Vinci, along with the 2024 Olympic gold medal with Jasmine Paolini — who was in the crowd cheering after pulling out of this event after losing to Swiatek on Monday night in the Cincinnati final.
