Before Attempting to Top Opponents, U.S. Open Players Must Beat Traffic

As his driver fought through rush hour traffic, the car broke down, and Smyczek was left stranded on the highway shoulder.

It took about 20 minutes for Smyczek to flag down another driver headed to the Open.

“He pulled over and said, ‘Hey, you guys need a ride or something?’ ” Smyczek recalled the driver asking. Smyczek arrived in time for his match against James Duckworth on Court 17. (Smyczek won in four sets.)

The Open poses many challenges for the tennis elite, from surviving 140-mile-per-hour serves to withstanding New York City’s snark, but perhaps the most fundamental challenge is getting there.

Nearly all of the players stay in Manhattan hotels. Billie Jean King National Tennis Center may sit about 10 miles from Times Square, but it can take an hour or more in crawling traffic. That means that 543 of the world’s best tennis players from 64 countries have to scramble through expressways, tunnels and bridges before they even step on the court.

The commute is coordinated from a room behind Arthur Ashe Stadium. The numbers are dizzying: 175 cars, 75 buses, 1,300 rides a day, 1.1 million miles logged during the tournament.

Dozens of the drivers are former law enforcement officers. “They can deal with the traffic — and player anxiety,” said Roy D. Fugazy, the president of Fugazy Sports & Entertainment, the transportation company that works with the Open.

The traffic slog is part of what makes the Open distinct from the other major tournaments, which are set in more peaceful locations, like Wimbledon, Melbourne and the outskirts of Paris.

Here, as New Yorkers know all too well, the commute does not always go so well.

Dmitry Tursunov, a Russian player ranked 34th, said his car did not show up Tuesday at his hotel to take him to Queens, forcing him to find a car pool.

“We’re talking about the U.S. Open, which spends a ridiculous amount of money,” he said. “A lot of players complain about it, a lot of players have problems with transportation.”

When Open organizers surveyed the players about their experiences after previous tournaments, officials said the top complaint was always the same: transportation. Those complaints make their way to the desk of F. Skip Gilbert, a senior official with the United States Tennis Association. He is responsible for, among other things, making sure all of the players make it through the tunnels and across the bridges in time for their matches.

“It is thankless, and we know that there are going to be times, thanks to a car breaking down, or weather, or incredible traffic or something goes on, you’re going to run a minute late and you’re going to expect to get criticized,” Gilbert said. “And if you do, you smile and say, ‘Yes, we’re very sorry and we’ll try not to do it again.’ ”

He and his team manage the commutes from a small office on the stadium grounds, where nearly a dozen dispatchers pore over color-coded spreadsheets.Multilingual workers field questions and remind players of their pickup times. Radio dispatches fill the air from dawn to dusk.

Fugazy, the contractor who oversees the cars, said that when he began handling the Open transportation in 2006, his team had to travel among about 15 pickup locations. Now, they pick up athletes at more than 200 places.

He said he worked to match players with chauffeurs who will suit their temperament. “You have certain players that have their nuances, their needs, and we’re managing their expectations, so we marry them with certain drivers,” Fugazy said.

This year marked the debut of a software system designed to manage the Open’s fleet of 250 player vehicles and buses.

The software creates a profile for each player that includes hotel addresses and match times. Players typically ride in their own car, but Fugazy sometimes has to resort to car pools, sparking occasional grumbles.

Mornings are the busiest times as cars from the Open swarm around hotels — like the Grand Hyatt, the Waldorf-Astoria and the Le Parker Meridien — in search of athletes toting large racket bags. Players are advised to allow 45 to 60 minutes for the drive. But there can be additional obstacles. Like Labor Day weekend traffic, and special trips to the airport for losing players.

Nevertheless, tennis officials are willing to bend the rules for top players, like Andy Murray, Fugazy said.

“We know if Mr. Murray needs an extra car, we’re probably more likely to provide that because he’s earned the right to have that kind of consideration,” Gilbert said.

Some players are sanguine about the traffic woes.

“I think they’re trying their level best,” said Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, a 12th-ranked doubles player from Pakistan. “But, unfortunately, just New York City, man.”

Unfortunately, a bad commute can affect a player’s game. Caroline Wozniacki, a Danish player ranked eighth, said her car was late Thursday. She still won her match in two sets, but she said the drive threw off her routine.

“I was a bit stressed after my first round,” she said. “When there’s a little bit of traffic, and then the car is 10 minutes late, then all of a sudden, you’re like, under pressure.”

Ben Rothenberg contributed reporting.