NEW YORK _ Last year was supposed to be the last of active U.S. Open competition in the cozy old Grandstand that abuts Louis Armstrong Stadium on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds. The Grandstand was to have been used only for practice these next two weeks.
A new, larger Grandstand has gone into service on the opposite side of the tennis campus and, after this edition of the Open, both Armstrong and the Grandstand _ show courts since the tennis center opened in 1978 _ will be ripped down and replaced by a new Armstrong.
But one of the refurbished field courts is not ready, so the old Grandstand is getting one more grand stand. And it began, with an exceptionally sparse crowd rattling around its 6,000 seats, with a low-visibility matchup between 32-year-old Belgian Steve Darcis, ranked 106th in the world and in the main draw as a qualifier, against 22-year-old Australian Jordan Thompson, ranked 91st.
Starting just after 11 a.m. Monday, they played for 4 hours, 11 minutes. Darcis won, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 7-5.
