US Open: The Next Big After the Big Three – Sport

Take Serena Williams, for example: “Fearless and terrifying in serving and fighting racism and sexism alike; brave in her cause as a mother, mild in her manner.” The inscription on the bronze plaque that she will receive five years after retiring in the Court of Champions, a kind of Valhalla of this sport at the south entrance of the Flushing Meadows tennis facility, should be something similar.

Only the very greatest are immortalized there; with a photo and with flowery words that it is a real pleasure to stroll among the inscriptions for a few minutes. About Helen Wills, seven tracks: “Equal parts power and grace, ‘Little Miss Poker Face’ was perpetual coolness.” Or Maureen Connolly, who won in New York from 1951 to 1953: “Little Mo, named after the tireless sailors of ‘Big Mo’, the warship Missouri, played with cannon-like groundstrokes.”

Williams has maintained her image quite well; just like Roger Federer cultivates that of the gentleman, Rafael Nadal that of the man of sorrows and Novak Djokovic – wait, more on that a little later.

When legends of a discipline retire, it’s often said that a black hole could emerge in which a sport disappears forever. You get excited about sports for two reasons: because people do something that you didn’t think was possible (and maybe you wouldn’t like to be able to do it yourself), and because you have a fever for the protagonists. Because they touch you, somehow.

Here’s a theory, after two weeks of the US Open in the Court of Champions, based on the old rock star wisdom (You don’t go crazy by getting rich and famous. You get rich and famous because you’re crazy): In no other sport personality becomes as visible as in tennis, and this means that tennis not only allows, but perhaps even creates, peculiar types.

There is the counting that structures parts as if they were plays; depending on the course comedy, tragedy, drama. There is the division into service games (scenes) and sentences (acts), which sharpens the games. There are the individual rallies, which can be mini dramas in themselves, and what happens in between is at least as exciting.

In the epic men’s quarterfinals, for example, Jannik Sinner versus Carlos Alcaraz: Anyone who observed both of them off the courts during the US Open, for example in the players’ garden, came to the conclusion: These are two nice guys, almost a bit boring, and there’s nothing wrong with that to suspend. They became dudes at Arthur Ashe Stadium, or rather they made dudes of each other.

Alcaraz refused to capitulate to the superior Sinner. There were 382 rallies after 315 minutes of play at 2:50 a.m. And even if there were many crazy moments, two of Alcaraz will remain unforgettable: the behind-the-back blow, which ranks in the ranking of great US Open shots between Federer-Tweener (2009) and Serena-Spagat (2011 ). And the five seconds after set four where he just stared at Sinner. Everyone knew what Alcaraz was thinking, and maybe if you crossed your fingers for him, you’d stare at the TV the same way.

Unforgettable from Sinner: the solid volley forehand; and everything from the missed match point in the fourth set onwards. How he despaired because he kept looking like the winner but seemed to understand that he wasn’t going to win this game. One suffered with the Italian because his face could be seen in close-up after each of the 60 rallies in the fifth set. Every twitch of the eyes, every movement of the corners of the mouth. And the Sinner fans were probably staring at their screens the same way he was staring back at one.

There is a situation or person for every fan that you can identify with

What sport is this in? The alienation in football between the protagonists and the audience can be seen in the staged goal celebrations. In tennis there are so many small breaks that choreography is not possible. You can see, in close-up and every 20 seconds, what is going on in the actors; and there are all the emotions you can imagine.

Another example: The women’s semifinals, Caroline Garcia, who bravely played her way through the tournament while explaining how she deals with doubts and doubters, was hit by Ons Jabeur, 1-6, 3-6. You could see Garcia’s doubts returning in the biggest game of her career so far, on the biggest possible stage. You could guess how she felt, after all, people spend a considerable part of their lives trying to get their heads pumped.

There is a situation or person for every fan that they can identify with, sometimes supported by one or the other cliché. Semi-finalist Karen Khachanov from Russia is the chess-playing strategist; Frances Tiafoe the upbeat, feel-good Cinderella story they love to tell in the US; Alcaraz is built up to be the model student Houdini who never gives up like compatriot Nadal. Who will call him Man of Sorrows first?

A quick look at the world map: The top 20 players each come from 20 different countries, and there would be even more if Alexander Zverev (injured) and Djokovic (no visa due to missing Covid vaccination) were there. The 60 semi-finalists of the past 15 years for men came from 18 countries, for women there are even 23 nations. The semi-final countries this year: Tunisia, France, Poland, Belarus, Russia, Norway, Spain, USA.

There have been exciting games at this US Open that should continue to be breathtaking

And as it is in real life: It is difficult to free yourself from pigeonholes. Stefanos Tsitsipas was received during the US Open last year from cool newcomer to rowdy toilet permanent guest and this time frostily. Nick Kyrgios can emphasize so often that he takes tennis seriously at the age of 27 – in every interview he is asked in which bar he can be found later. Coco Gauff has to be the new Serena, although she would love to just be Coco Gauff.

These constant counter-cuts between exciting rallies and the big feelings in between lead to a combination of respect and affection – or respect and dislike. And that finally leads to Djokovic and the question: When did the Djoker, who parodied colleagues and took part in every joke, become this seemingly dogged title hunter?

Open detailed view

Flashback to 2015 US Open final, Djokovic vs Federer. The Serb had been trying hard to please the audience for the past two weeks, signing extensively, dancing with a freaky fan, slipping on a T-shirt that said “I Heart New York” – and yet New Yorkers were belching, to disrupt his concentration on serve. If you look at the game again, Djokovic will see how he remains calm on the outside, but at some point his look expresses: If you despise me because you love him so much over there, then you will respect me because I win this! He won, clearly. When he was loved last year for losing the final to Medvedev, he cried before it was over. just tennis.

Djokovic and Federer share a rivalry, of which there have been so many in the history of tennis that it would take a book to list them all. That’s another aspect of this sport, you’re always looking: When could they play against them and when could they play against them? And when a tweet from Khachanov to Kyrgios is dug out before the men’s quarterfinals – “Read a few books instead of just playing video games” – then the viewers can decide who they stick with: bookworm or gambler?

There were exciting games at this US Open that should continue to be breathtaking. For men: Kyrgios against Medvedev, Sinner against Alcaraz, Ruud against Khachanov. For women: Zheng against Niemeier, Garcia against Gauff, Pliskova against Asarenka and of course the second semi-final, in which Iga Swiatek after a while ran everything that Aryna Sabalenka threw at her – combined with Sabalenka’s look, which was reminiscent of another rivalry: How well do I have to play to win this? You know that about yourself too.

So you don’t have to worry about tennis. 26 people are immortalized in the Court of Champions, and even if Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have already reserved their tributes: there is still enough space.