A number of things have changed at the U.S. Open because of the coronavirus. Players wear masks walking to and from courts; gone are the post-match handshakes and hugs at the net; players have only minimal time in the locker rooms, training facilities and the on-site gym; and, of course, there are no fans at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

But one of the biggest changes for players has to do with sweat – as in, how to mop it up. There are new, temporary rules governing how towels are used on court, and they have disrupted a routine that is sacred for many players.

“For me, it has huge importance, the towel,” fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas said. “I use it very often. It gives me time to think, gives me time to refresh myself and think about my tactics.”

Towels offer players more than a moment to regroup; they are a necessity for keeping hands, faces and racket grips dry during matches, particularly when players bake during the hot, humid days of the U.S. Open (as evidenced by British player Kyle Edmund, who brought not one but two extra pairs of shoes for when he sweat through a pair playing Novak Djokovic on Wednesday). But they’re also as much of an afterthought as tennis balls. In between points, it’s become automatic for players to turn to ball girls and boys and wave a hand in front of their face, signaling the need for a towel.

The practice has been ingrained in the sport for more than a decade, after players such as Andy Roddick and Greg Rusedski popularized heading for the towel after nearly every point, even if they’d served an ace. Credit also goes to Rafael Nadal, who famously likes to keep a strict routine on court that dictates everything from the placement of water bottles at his chair to, yes, how often he wipes down in a match.

“Nadal brought in those methodical rituals to the game, whether it was an OCD or superstitious,” legendary doubles player Bob Bryan told The Associated Press in 2014. “That goes to younger players and younger players – they emulate their idols and it just becomes part of the culture.”

“Now everyone goes to the towel after every point,” his brother Mike Bryan added. “You don’t need a wipe down after every point.”

Players at this year’s U.S. Open might disagree.

During the coronavirus pandemic, players have to retrieve the towels themselves, dipping into color-coded boxes at the back of the court. Only a player can handle his or her towel and must do so within the 25 seconds allotted on the serve clock in between points.

Last week at the Western & Southern Open, a warmup tournament ahead of the U.S. Open that is usually played in Cincinnati but was moved this year to New York, chair umpires were more lenient as to when they started the serve clock, allowing players time to adjust to the new rule. This week, not every umpire has been so forgiving.

Top-seeded Djokovic reacted swiftly in his first-round match Monday when he was warned about a time violation, questioning the chair umpire’s call.

“I lost my focus. Kind of got stressed out a couple times,” Djokovic said. “We’ve played in the certain tempo, so to say, got used to it during the Western & Southern tournament, which just ended two days ago. Two days later, we have a different rule that was just not communicated to us.”

Playing beat the clock unnerved Ajla Tomljanovic during her first-round loss to Angelique Kerber, “because I sweat a lot. I don’t like to be late; I usually play fast. So I get a little nervous when I see the (shot) clock running really low.”

Tsitsipas was especially thrown off. In a turn of events that could only happen at a tennis tournament, the Grecian was asked only about towels in a news conference this week following his first-round win.

He did not disappoint.

“I used to have a towel when I was 3, 4 years old, and I would always carry it around,” Tsitsipas said. “It was like my toy, basically. The towel resembles something special in my life. It does provide us some sort of amount of comfort. And also, yeah, it’s not very comfortable playing all sweaty and having sweat drip from your face and get to your eyes.

“We have the ball boys that do a great job providing us with so much, with the balls, with the towels, making our job much easier, and I have a huge respect for them. And being under the heat and having to do so many things, multitasking at the same time, it’s one of the most difficult jobs, actually. I did it when I was young, and it was very confusing. It would get very confusing.”

A reporter followed up: “So the towel is kind of a teacher for you?”

“It is,” he answered with a nod.

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