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NEW YORK -- The U.S. Open closed its new, $150 million retractable roof atop Arthur Ashe Stadium during a match for the first time Wednesday night.The shutting of the cover resulted in a suspension of play of less than 7 1/2 minutes at 3-all in the second set of Rafael Nadals 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 victory against Andreas Seppi in the second round.I feel that the conditions are pretty similar when the roof is closed or open, Nadal said afterward.The most noticeable difference was the amount of ambient noise -- chatter from spectators, mainly -- that could be heard during points.U.S. Tennis Association Executive Director Gordon Smith said tournament organizers will look into that.This is New York. And yes, theres crowd noise. And yes, we want the crowds to come, we want them to be excited. We want them to cheer. And we think that over time the fans will adjust and the players will adjust, he said. Its obvious theres going to be more noise in a trapped environment than in an open environment.Even before the roof was closed, chair umpire Cedric Mourier repeatedly implored spectators to keep quiet during points. Both Nadal and Seppi were surprised by just how many interruptions there were from fans, either moving around in the stands or simply being loud.The people, I think, are used to going to baseball (games) and keep talking, Seppi said. There really was a lot of noise.After dealing with rain delays and postponed finals for years, the USTA finally built a sliding roof over its main stadium. It was available for this years tournament, which started Monday, but the first two days were dry.It took well over 10 years to come up with a solution to do this that was affordable, was architecturally imaginative, that was cost-effective, that was efficient. But we did it, Smith said. To see it work flawlessly was really incredible.A light rain began to fall while Nadal and Seppi were playing. Tournament referee Brian Earley was monitoring the weather from off to the side of the playing surface and eventually walked over to Mourier and the two players to let them know he wanted to shut the roof.This might take very few minutes, Mourier announced to the spectators. Thank you very much for your patience.Some fans applauded or cheered. Others pulled out their cellphones to shoot photos of the structure as it moved. Even Nadal took a glance overhead to sneak a peek.The USTA has said that, based on pre-tournament testing, the expectation is there will be little difference in playing conditions whether the roof is open or closed.The only use of the roof until Nadals match came when it was shut at the start of the tournaments opening ceremony Monday night, then opened while Phil Collins sang In the Air Tonight.The U.S. Open mens final was postponed in five consecutive years because of wet weather from 2008-12.For a good show, for the comfort of the fans and for the fans in general (watching on) television, Nadal said about the new roof, its just an unbelievable improvement.---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich Royals Jerseys China . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. 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In the wake of signing Spanish guard Alex Abrines on Monday, the Oklahoma City Thunder rescinded guard Dion Waiters qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent, the team confirmed to ESPN.The move was first reported by The Vertical.Waiters was tendered a $6.8 million qualifying offer before free agency opened July 1, but the Thunder have pulled that, removing their ability to match any offer sheet he receives. Waiters could have accepted the qualifying offer at any point, and it would have become a guaranteed one-year deal.The Thunder did not renounce Waiters, however, meaning they retain his Bird rights as well as his $12.8 million cap hold. The moment Waiters signs elsewhere -- which likely will happen sooner thaan later now that hes unrestricted -- that cap hold comes off the Thunders books.ddddddddddddThe Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers have been interested in Waiters since free agency opened.As the Thunder recover from the departure of Kevin Durant, they are prioritizing flexibility. With Waiters no longer part of their long-term picture, the Thunder can use the forthcoming increase in cap space to work on a possible renegotiated extension for Russell Westbrook.Waiters, 24, was selected fourth overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2012 and traded to the Thunder in a three-team deal in January 2015. ' ' '