NEW YORK – One of Monday’s early games at the US Open was delayed by a few minutes due to an unscheduled game of hideouts.
At the second point in the match against Canada’s Victoria Mboko, the vibration humidifier leapt out of the racket of two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Klezikova. The chairman’s judge Aurely Turtte, Mboko and, ultimately, the crowd and security staff assisted Klezikova in her search.
“It’s obviously happened many times in my career,” Klezikova said. “We lost it and we couldn’t find it. It’s pretty much what was happening there. The dumpners were playing the game with us, so we were all looking for it.
Krezikova, who won Wimbledon last year and won the French Open in 2021, said it was “good for them all” to help players find the damper they use to reduce the impact of vibrations from balls hitting the racket.
Once that was found, the Czech 29-year-old moved 6-3, 6-2 in straight sets. Mboko, who turned 19 on Tuesday, tried to prevent the approximately six-minute halt from causing her to abandon.
“It disrupts the play a bit,” Mboko said. “I think it was okay. I took quite a while to focus myself and find her wet, so I tried to focus again. After that, I just wanted a kind of reorganization. I paused a bit in the game, but I still got active and bouncing off and made sure I was ready for the next point.”
Mboko played heavy tape on her right wrist to stabilize what she called a previous injury. She had won the home country tournament in Montreal. Meanwhile, they defeated Grand Slam champions Naomiosaka, Cocogoff, Elena Ribakina and Sophia Kenin halfway through.
“I feel really happy to have the opportunity to play against such a great player. It’s really good for my development as a tennis player and I think I’ll have a little more experience in the next few games. “They’ve won a Grand Slam. That’s my goal. I want to win a Grand Slam too.”
