Extreme Weather Strands Fans at U.S. Open As Flooding Disrupts Train Service

In Thursday’s Hot Clicks: unprecedented rain leaves tennis fans high and dry, Cristiano Ronaldo slaps a guy and more.

What a nightmare

Torrential rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida caused catastrophic flooding in the New York metro area Wednesday night, submerging roadways, subway stations and ground-floor apartments. At least nine people were killed.

And yet, play at the U.S. Open in Queens continued. Some matches were postponed because the rain was so unrelenting the retractable roof on Louis Armstrong Stadium proved no match. 

Out on the concourse, a beer stand careened out of control as the wind whipped. 

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This is what fans had to contend with as they left the stadium and ventured to the train station to try to make their way home. 

And once they arrived at the station, they were faced with the daunting task of navigating a public transit system crippled by the unprecedented flooding. Service was suspended on every line of the New York subway system. The Long Island Rail Road suspended service on its Port Washington branch, which serves the National Tennis Center. 

Fans who decided to wait out the weather inside Arthur Ashe—where Diego Schwartzman defeated Kevin Anderson in straight sets in a match that ended around 1 a.m.—were told not to leave due to the transportation crisis. 

Jake Kring-Schreifels (who I went to college with) was one of the fans who stuck it out for the Schwartzman match. By the time the match ended, the 7 train was running again with limited service to Manhattan and he was able to catch one without waiting for too long. 

“It wasn’t too bad, honestly,” he told me. “We left the last match around 1:10 a.m. and then got a 7 train around 1:45 a.m.”

Once he got into Manhattan, Kring-Schreifels saw “lots of people just camping out in the Grand Central subway stop” but was able to walk the 25 blocks home instead of having to wait for another train. Another fan, Forrest Brown, wasn’t so lucky. He wrote on Twitter that he had to walk all the way from Grand Central to Brooklyn.

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Not “for no reason” (he kicked the ball after Ronaldo set it up for a penalty) but still, what was he thinking?

So there won’t be any unvaccinated players on those teams

This follows local governmental policies, meaning unvaccinated players on the Nets, Knicks and Warriors are not allowed to play in home games. Visiting players are exempt from the vaccination requirements in NYC and SF. https://t.co/fPePW722Og

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 1, 2021

Mark Davis is building a supervillain’s lair in the middle of the desert

He broke his own ankles

People will definitely only watch this show for legal betting advice

It worked so well the first time not to try it again

That’s pretty cool

Shocking

Not sports

An 80-pound cougar being kept illegally as a pet was removed from an apartment in the Bronx. ... Scientists discovered that microscopic organisms called “water bears” walk the same way as animals 500,000 times larger. ... An Illinois woman was arrested for trying to get into Hawaii with a fake vaccine card that misspelled Moderna as “Maderna.”

A good song

Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.