If this is what a post-Big Three, post-Serena world of tennis is going to look like, I can live with it. See my full report BELOW.
After nearly two decades of the Big Three, it was nice to watch the men's final and (finally) be able to be OK with either man winning, which Carlos Alcaraz did in impressive fashion, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3 over a valiant Caper Ruud. Whether you like his game or not, it's hard not to be impressed by his fortitude and composure at just 19 years of age. He sure looks like the future of the game, but then I remember how impressive Juan Martin del Potro, Bianca Andreescu and Tracy Austin were in their U.S. Open wins and it reminds me how fragile the human body is.
The victory puts him on top of the ATP rankings, making him the youngest to do so. Of course there's kind of a double asterisk on those -- Rafael Nadal has two majors, one with an asterisk of its own, plus uncounted semifinal points at Wimbledon that would at least make him No. 2. And Novak Djokovic has 2,000 points missing from Wimbledon and who-know-how-many from being deported from Australia after securing a medical exemption, not to mention missing the Sunshine Double. Still, Carlitos's rise is real no matter how you slice it.
The women's final kind of turned out how I expected. I wanted Ons Jabeur to win, but realized it was tall order against an "on" Iga Swiatek. The Pole was up 6-2, 3-0 before the Tunisian was finally able to lift her game to the level we know she can play. But every time she got a little momentum it was to be short-lived, allowing Iga to win the second-set tiebreak 7-5.
While I'm happy to see some consistency return to the women's game -- these two are now No. 1 and 2 on the computer, respectively, and Caroline Garcia nicely followed up her big win with her first major semi -- what this final did more than anything is make me that much more annoyed that Ons blew that set lead against Elena Rybakina, whom I'm guessing we'll never hear from again.
Britain's Joe Salisbury and America's Rajeev Ram edged a close final to become the first pair this century to retain the US Open men's doubles title. They won 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 against Salisbury's compatriot Neal Skupski and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof. Australian duo Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge were the last pair to win successive New York titles in 1995-96.
They don't exactly look like losers, do they?
Congrats to David O'Hare on his coaching his first major-winning team. (Last year at this time he was working with Mitchell Krueger when Joe and Ram won.)
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova defeated unseeded Americans Caty McNally and Taylor Townsend 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 to capture the women's doubles crown. The Czech team has now won six Grand Slam doubles titles together. Although it's nice to see Townsend enjoying some success after returning from having a baby, I'm not quite sure it's the "gotcha" she's making it out to be: She seems to think blowing a 6-3, 4-1 lead in a major doubles final proves to Patrick McEnroe and others who questioned her fitness and dedication TEN(!) years ago when she was a top SINGLES prospect that doing it her way was the right way to go. (She's currently ranked No. 190 and reached a career high of No. 61 in 2018, which hardly seems commensurate with her talent.)
The king has a message for the fresh prince
Casual Carlos
It's nice to see Iga with a little body in her hair ...
Was beginning to think she was the love child of Jodie Foster and Emo Philips
Frances Tiafoe took out Nadal before coming up short against Carlos. But he made some new fans along the way!
My new FAVORITE PLAYER takes Manhattan. Note: We saw Fabien Reboul play last week!
Andrea Pellegrino provided the best view in NYC
David Vega Hernandez made his presence felt all around the city
Casper the friendly runner-up
Iga and her winning team
Ons's winning team
And her No. 1 prize
Dinner Mate
The two faces of Ons: Motherly and caring
... and vulnerable
Pedro Cachin rides to a career-high ranking
Congrats to Ajla Tomljanović who followed up her win over Serena Williams by reaching the quarters before losing to Jabeur. And even bigger congrats for following up her relationship with Matteo Berrettini with this one ... someone's got a type!
Quentin Halys appears to have tied the knot
Paula Badosa still sucks in major but still has this guy in bed
Is Andy Mies a theater queen?
This is what Karen Khachanov looked like after doing God's work at the U.S. Open!
Cute to see Tracy Austin return to the scene of her tennis debut!
The two-time champion sure looked giddy with Andy Roddick
Still want to know more about this
Juan Martin del Potro returning to the scene of his greatest triumph
XXXL chinos?
With Tracy
When Latinos play tennis
Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara were bummed to lose to Cabal-Farah
White Russian-Black American: This is a porn I would like to see
Martina takes selfie
Up on a roof: Andrea Vavassori and Davide Della Tommasina
Killer view
Drinks with Fabio Di Chio
Back home / More HERE.
Whether we like it or not, it's Davis Cup time ... which means plenty of tennis hunks in suits:
Team Italy
Team Serbia
Team Spain
Vote for Pedro
Team Canada
Team Netherlands
Team Germany
Practice with Oscar Otte
Germany experienced a setback when Alexander Zverev had to pull out, saying he'd overdone it on the comeback trail. Could be January before we see him again on court
Oliver Marach has gone to the dark side
My dinner with Vasek
Working out with Pospisil
Gym time with Garin
Let's hope Borna Coric can put this disappointing U.S. Open behind him
This is helping me move on
My crush on Bart Stevens
Just doubled
Joel McHale and the best hair transplant in history
Frances Tiafoe's booty bump
Ryan Harrison is a master
Kind words for Frances from the MAGA pinup
Rehabbing with Thomas Fabbiano
Mischa Zverev is such a tease
Norwegian treat
Cooling down with Cam Norrie
Red Bull pitchman Marton Fucsovics
Large and in charge on the track
Honk if you think Arnaud Bovy looks sexy in his disco shirt
Leggy Cesar Ramirez
Denis still has his pretty locks
Dennis Novak makes Austria proud
In the Battle of My Boyfriends ...
Roberto Carballes defeated Bernabé Zapata Miralles 6-3 7-6(6) in Sevilla to claim his second #ATPChallenger title of the year
Dreamy Albano Olivetti and Romain Arneodo reached the doubles final at the Challenger in Provence
From qualifier to champion: Great Britain's Stuart Parker defeated Arthur Cazaux of France 6-4, 4-1 (retired) in Nonthaburi to claim his first #ATPChallenger title!
And last but not least: Simona Halep -- who we found out is getting a divorce from her billionaire hubby after less than a year of marriage(!) -- is now following up her breast reduction with a nose job!
5 comments:
It was a fantastic Open.
The sustained excellence of a few players has created some level of fatigue among fans. I marveled at Rafa’s ability to win two majors this year, but I’ve seen this show before.
Between Alcaraz, Swiatek, Tiafoe, Gauff, Sinner, Jabeur and Garcia (though her shocking semi performance makes me wonder), there are many players capable of playing dazzling tennis in the years to come.
Nadal still in the top 3!!!!!
Congratulations to Carlos
I don't want to relegislate the DJoker Aussie Open stuff - I still think his doctor lied and he was absolutely reckless if the doctor did not lie. (And I wouldn't bring this up if you didn't.)
But this comment is incorrect:" And Novak Djokovic has 2,000 points missing from Wimbledon ..."
The ATP awarded zero points for Wimbledon. So Novak would not have those 2,000 points in any case.
@Scott: Huh? I'm merely pointing out that the rankings are a little kooky right now for various reasons. That you someone didn't notice that I had also pointed out that Nadal has "uncounted semifinal points at Wimbledon" lowering his ranking tells me everything I need to know. LOL!
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