Across the United States, Americans have been glued to their TV screens – or if they were lucky, the live courts. The annual U.S. Open Tennis Championships, which began Aug. 26 and ended Sept. 8, were held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y. The Open, now a must-attend event for celebrities and influencers, surpassed its biggest single day crowd this year with 74,641 fans on opening day.
U.S. tennis players made history on their home turf, representing their country with unbeatable energy. Emma Navarro was one of two New York natives to advance to the women’s singles semifinals on Sept. 6. Navarro put together a series of impressive victories, including an upset win against defending U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff. Despite it being Navarro’s first time competing in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the 21 year-old put on an incredible performance and was able to advance to the semifinals where she was ultimately defeated by the No. 2 seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
The second U.S. semifinalist, No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula of Buffalo, N.Y., gained her spot in the semis after beating No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland in the quarterfinals. This upset led her to her first Grand Slam semifinals, where she beat Czech player Karolína Muchová, advancing to her first Major finals. Pegula held her ground against her opponent, but Sabalenka, the three-time Grand Slam title winner, defeated Pegula in straight sets: 7-5, 7-5.
U.S. fans did not stop cheering, however, as the men’s singles players made history as well. The tournament held the first All-American semis since 2005. No. 12 Taylor Fritz from California took on No. 20 Frances Tiafoe from Maryland. The match between the two 26-year-olds had the crowd torn, leaving them unsure who to cheer for. Fritz came out on top, gaining the title of the first American men’s singles finalist at the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2006.
Carlos Alcaraz, who has won four Grand Slam titles, including this year’s French Open and Wimbledon, was unexpectedly knocked out in just the second round of the tournament. Alcaraz blamed his loss to No. 74 Botic Van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands on his tight schedule and short break after the Olympics.
“The tennis schedule is so tight,” Alcaraz stated after his loss. “I’ve been playing a lot of matches lately, you know, with Roland Garros, with Wimbledon, Olympic Games… Probably I came here with not as much energy as I thought that I was going to come [with].”
No. 2 Novak Djokovic, one of the greatest tennis players in the sport’s history — and possessing the most Grand Slam titles — was also defeated in an upset loss in the third round of the tournament by the Australian No. 28, Alexei Popyrin. Djokovic says he turned out some of the worst tennis he had ever played.
Despite the amazing run from Fritz, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy proved to be too much for the young American. Fritz went down in straight sets: 6-3, 6-5, 7-5, as the Italian’s powerful forehand kept him trapped on his baseline for much of the match.
The American was gracious in defeat, as he reflected back on the tournament.
“It’s been an amazing two weeks and first off congrats to [Sinner], he played an amazing match and was too good,” Fritz said. “It’s been an amazing run and thank you to the fans for everything this week.”
Sinner’s win definitely stirred up its fair share of controversy, as it was revealed that he had tested positive for anabolic steroid usage back in March. While it was a non-factor for his performance at The Open, many people criticized the USTA for not suspending him from the tournament. Regardless, he turned in the performance that was expected of him as the top-ranked tennis player in the world, taking care of business and making us wait yet another year to see if a U.S. player will win the country’s namesake tournament.
