Is a boisterous US Open crowd the way for tennis to go?

What is it like being on court at the US Open, where a fan was once hit by a stray bullet; where fans are fuelled on interesting beverages; where energy and heckles rain down; where players perform before 23,000 in a single rousing court; and all of this in a city which has an air that the author Simone de Beauvoir said “makes sleep useless”?

An answer comes from a man who has played all four Grand Slams and made his New York debut in a night match.