Opinion: The first week of the U.S. Open was the most exciting ever at a Grand Slam
NEW YORK — It probably shouldn’t be news when the big topic at one of the greatest tennis tournaments in the world is just how great it’s been. But when people like Brad Gilbert, the former top-10 player, longtime coach and current ESPN analyst says the U.S. Open produced the best first week of a Grand Slam he’s seen in 40 years around the tour, you can’t dismiss it as hyperbole.
And he’s not the only one.
“Trying to remember a more spectacular 1st week of the @usopen incredible matches tremendous to see and hear the fans - stay safe gang,” tweeted Paul Annacone, the former coach of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and others.
Frankly, the emergence of this narrative has been a bit of a surprise. Coming into the U.S. Open, most of the conversation centered on who wasn’t here, most notably Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.
For nearly 20 years, those three superstars have been the economic and emotional lifeblood of the sport, selling out stadiums wherever they showed up around the world and carrying television ratings because of their ability to draw in casual fans. Now that all three are close to the end of their careers, there’s a certain level of existential dread within the sport about what the landscape will look like when they leave the scene for good.
But the juice from the U.S. Open’s first week suggests that sport is, in fact, not about to wither away with the next generation. Both the quality of tennis and the drama produced over the last week suggests there’s plenty to get excited about in the future.
Here are four reasons why the U.S. Open has been so spectacular thus far:
1. Long matches
There’s been a bit of a debate within tennis lately about whether the men’s game should consider either scrapping the best-of-five set format altogether or only employing it toward the later rounds of the Grand Slams. In an era where most sports are trying to find a way to make their events less demanding for the fans and friendlier to television windows, those four or five-hour matches cut against current viewership trends.
But the drama they can produce is undeniable. At this U.S. Open, there have been a record 33 five-set matches on the men’s side, including 10 comebacks from a two set to love deficit. In the first round alone, there were five matches decided in fifth-set tiebreakers.
Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed, said this might be happening because fans are back in the stadium this year and it’s having an impact on both players.
“In almost any match, if you're two sets down, the fans go crazy for the guy who is losing because they want to prolong the match,” he said. “I think we didn't have this experience for a long time, so it's tougher for the one who is winning, because he's not anymore used to it and it's much easier for the guy who is losing, who is going to feed from it and just, yeah, try to give everything.”
2. Upsets are contagious
On both the men’s and women’s side, the seeds mostly held to form for the first couple rounds. But over the weekend, it turned into complete chaos — which means there were great stories all over the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Last Friday alone, you had three unseeded players knocking out some of the favorites on Arthur Ashe Stadium: 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz stunning No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets, 18-year-old Leylah Fernandez coming from behind against defending champion Naomi Osaka, and Francis Tiafoe playing the best tennis of his life down the stretch to beat No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev. Then on Saturday, Shelby Rogers coming from 5-2 down in the third set against No. 1 Ash Barty probably trumped them all for shock value.
It’s helped that some of the most joyful moments of the tournament have been produced by American players buoyed by the home crowd, including Rogers, Tiafoe and Jenson Brooksby, the 20-year-old who reached the round of 16 at a major for the first time.
“The crowd played a big role definitely,” Brooksby said. “Them chanting, cheering me on, it gave me a lot of energy to come back down two sets to one. It was a rough couple sets. Whether it was just my group, even friends I had here, the whole crowd in general with the full stadium, it was great to see them behind me. I really enjoyed that.”
3. Inspiration and opportunity
Tiafoe had an interesting observation Sunday night when asked about the amount of energy pulsating through these matches. He attributed it somewhat to the absence of Federer and Nadal, both of whom are home nursing injuries and hoping to come back in 2022. Without them in the field, he said, players have more belief that they can make a deep run and it’s inspiring them to dig even deeper to fight in these matches.
“The level of tennis is high. Anyone can beat anyone,” Tiafoe said. “Look, I'm 50 in the world. I'm beating all these kind of guys. Everyone’s good. If you don't show up to play, you can lose to anyone.
“I definitely think guys are trying extra hard because there is (no) Roger or Rafa. I truly believe that. I see guys foaming in the mouth. It’s pretty funny to watch, I'm in the locker room cracking up. You have (Andreas) Seppi at 37 playing 15-13 (in a tiebreaker) in the fifth. What's that about? Crazy. His 19th US Open, he's putting his heart on the line. He's probably not doing that if he plays Rafa the second round. He’s probably, like, ‘I'm done.’”
4. Fun controversies
Tennis may be a gentleman/gentlewoman’s sport, but let’s face it — it’s more fun when players beef with each other. And this U.S. Open has provided plenty of that, mostly centered around the unwritten rules of bathroom breaks.
The main antagonist in the story was Tsitsipas, who was called out by Andy Murray after their first round match for taking roughly an eight-minute break after their fourth set. Though the amount of time it takes a player to change is arguably a silly and anodyne controversy, other players piled on Tsitsipas for what they perceive to be a tactic that stretches the intent of the bathroom break rule.
“Great for tennis,” 2020 U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem said on Tennis Channel. “It’s nice that things are heating up from time to time.”
Thiem is widely considered one of the friendliest and most sportsmanlike players on the tour, so when even he’s getting into the aggro, that kind of says it all.
There was also a bit of a controversy Sunday night after Barbora Krejcikova beat Garbiñe Muguruza in the round of 16. Krejcikova, who was obviously dealing with a physical problem late in the match and took a medical break late in the second set, said later she was dizzy and couldn’t breathe. Muguruza, however, seemed to think it was some kind of tactic and told Krejcikova during an icy handshake at the net that it was “so unprofessional.”