Is a boisterous New York 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 fueled 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"?

- Rohit Brijnath

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

"Crazy," says the former Indian player Somdev Devvarman.

"It was just incredibly electric.

"My first time was 2009 and I loved it, for you can feel the energy of the crowd." As if this isn't sport but a rock concert face-off between two guitarists. This analogy isn't completely absurd if you consider the media reports about the smell of cannabis wafting across the courts. If the ascetic Wimbledon's address is actually Church Road, this should be Laidback Avenue.

Devvarman played US college tennis (twice an NCAA individual champion) and knows their high-spirited crowds. "It never bothered me but it's not for everyone. I can see how people don't like it, especially if you're on the wrong side of it."

The Grand Slam year is at a crescendo and intriguing questions are filtering through. Is this Big Apple-boisterousness, a stadium drunk on noise, the way for all tennis to go? Is Novak Djokovic having to say "shut up" just great drama or a crowd going too far? Is Wimbledon, where a popped champagne cork is a noise violation, too dull for anyone without grey hair?