Grand slam tennis is back in action for the first time in nearly seven full months as the US Open gets started without spectators amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The No.1-seeded woman, Karolina Pliskova, will face Anhelina Kalinina later on Monday in the first match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Angelique Kerber, the German 2016 champion at Flushing Meadows, is facing Australian Ajla Tomljanovic in the first match in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
There are about 15 people, including reporters, scattered in the stands of an arena that holds about 14,000.
The professional tennis tours were on hiatus from March until August because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The last grand slam matches were at the Australian Open, which ended in early February.
The French Open was postponed from May to late September and Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II.