Former champions Djokovic, Osaka in action as US Open begins
Naomi Osaka, of Japan, returns a shot from Elise Mertens, of Belgium, during the semifinals at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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NEW YORK (NewsNation) — Former champions Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka headline Day One at the U.S. Open on Monday, as the 14-day tournament gets underway with no spectators in the stands.
Djokovic and Osaka, who won the singles titles in 2018, will compete in prime time starting at 7 p.m. ET, a marquee lineup that – under normal circumstances – would see thousands of fans pack under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Instead, the stands are sitting empty this year, with players living in quarantine.
World number one Djokovic will play Bosnian Damir Dzumhur as he begins his bid for an 18th Grand Slam title, while fourth-seeded Osaka takes on her Japanese compatriot Misaki Doi.
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, returns a shot to Milos Raonic, of Canada, during the finals of the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) 
Naomi Osaka, of Japan, serves to Elise Mertens, of Belgium, during the semifinals at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) 
Tennis fans watch the match between Roberto Bautista Agut, of Spain, , right, and Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, during the semifinals at the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament Friday, Aug. 28, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Donning masks and lugging rackets over their shoulders, the handful of authorized attendees trickled into the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in unseasonably cool weather as the curtain raised on a U.S. Open unlike any before.
The COVID-19 crisis has already had an impact on the tournament, with one player dropping out on Sunday. France’s Benoit Paire, seeded 17th in the Grand Slam event, pulled out of the tournament after testing positive for coronavirus.
Many top players, including reigning champion Rafael Nadal and world number one Ash Barty, opted not to compete due to health and safety concerns.
The depleted field will also be without last year’s champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada, world number two Simona Halep, and 20-times Grand Slam winner Roger Federer.
That could leave room for younger male contenders looking to win their first Grand Slam.
German 23-year-old fifth seed Alexander Zverev competes in the first round against South African Kevin Anderson on Monday while 22-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece faces Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
On the women’s side, top seed Karolina Pliskova, who has 16 WTA career titles but has struggled to make an impact in the majors, begins her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title when she meets Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in early action on Ashe.
