Roger Federer resumes match to near-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium

NEW YORK -- A weather delay interrupted Roger Federer's third-round match against Marcel Granollers at the U.S. Open on Sunday, and when play resumed hours

NEW YORK -- A weather delay interrupted Roger Federer's third-round match against Marcel Granollers at the U.S. Open on Sunday, and when play resumed hours later, Federer walked out to a near-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium. 

As Federer resumed his match with Granollers, this was the crowd. pic.twitter.com/jC8QkgexSh

— Ed McGrogan (@EdMcGrogan) August 31, 2014

With the weather delay pushing the the day session on Ashe into the start of the night sessions, U.S. Open officials decided to conclude the day session for ticket holders. That meant day session tickets could no longer get you into Ashe to watch the conclusion of a match that was part of the session you paid to see.

Gates did not open for night session holders until 6:30 p.m with Federer and Granollers retaking the court just after 6:30 p.m., which meant a bulk of the fans were still stuck in line trying to get onto the grounds. Meanwhile, day session fans were left fuming outside Ashe. The confluence of events led to an odd scene that saw the players retake the court -- the largest tennis stadium in the world with a capacity of over 23,000 -- to a few hundred fans. Their pre-match warm-up had the air of a practice session. 

Has to be the emptiest Federer match in over a decade. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/IW9EHyM6O9

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 31, 2014

It’s awkward. RT @jon_wertheim: You put these unknown players on Ashe and it's largely empty ... pic.twitter.com/iM6tHaQ0HN

— SI Tennis (@SI_Tennis) August 31, 2014