Led by Coco Gauff and a group of charismatic newcomers, tennis reached a true peak at this year’s US Open with a diverse mix of old and now.
No Serena Williams. No Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.
No problem.
In fact, Novak Djokovic, who won the 24th major title of his career with a victory over Daniil Medvedev in the men’s singles final on Sunday, is still performing his magic. But conventional thinking assumed that tennis would be in trouble when the legendary champions who had supported the professional game over the past two decades began leaving the sport en masse.
At this tournament, the confident performance of Gauff, who won the women’s singles title on Saturday evening, as well as the memorable performances of Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, proved that this thinking was wrong.
At the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, a quartet of legends no longer slowed the game down, overshadowing the sometimes faltering forward momentum of the young players coming back. You could feel it in the grounds, which filled with so many spectators that it often seemed like there was no room to move without bruising a shoulder. This year’s event set attendance records almost every day.
“It’s incredibly invigorating to see a change in personalities,” said Kate Koza, a Brooklyn native and regular at the Open since 2016, echoing a sentiment I’ve heard repeatedly throughout the event’s two-week run. “We’re not just seeing the same faces with the same mythical backstory.”
Tennis is changing, and no player embodied this more than the 19-year-old Gauff, who seemed destined for this moment since her first appearance four years ago with a first-round victory over Venus Williams at Wimbledon.
In these two weeks at the US Open she has completely grown into herself. Her dutiful parents, who were always at her side throughout her years of touring, with her father as her coach, gave her additional freedom and took just enough of a back seat. Gauff blossomed and made it clear that she is now her own woman. Remember how, during her fourth-round fight against Caroline Wozniacki, she demanded that her new trainer, Brad Gilbert, tone down his garrulous instructions.
“Please stop,” she ordered, adding a determination that showed she was the one dictating her actions at this event. “Stop talking!”
She dominated the stage at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens.
She used her speed and improved forehand to win four three-set showdowns during the tournament, playing like a canny veteran in the most heartbreaking moments.
She drew energy from the crowd — look, there’s Barack and Michelle Obama and over there Justin Bieber. “I’ve seen pretty much every celebrity they put on that screen,” she said, adding that she embraced the moment and vowed to “win in front of those people.”
When she fired a final passing shot past Aryna Sabalenka to clinch the title, fell onto her back and then knelt to enjoy the moment through tears, Gauff secured an eternal place in the collective memory. As I watched from a dozen rows behind center court, I got goosebumps and shivers. The huge stadium shook and swayed, most of the 23,000 fans in the stadium stood and cheered and chanted. They wanted this moment, this champion, this new beginning.
Since Serena Williams won her first major title as a 17-year-old at the 1999 US Open, there have been other black champions at the Open. Her sister Venus in 2000 and 2001. Sloane Stephens in 2017. Naomi Osaka, a Black and Asian woman, in 2018 and 2020.
But Gauff is the first in a new era – a new champion in a new tennis world – one without the shadow of Serena. The torch has been passed.
Sure, most fans hated seeing No. 1 seed Carlos Alcaraz, the Wimbledon champion, surprisingly lose to Medvedev in the semifinals. The dream duel had been a championship between Alcaraz and Djokovic, the owners of the hottest rivalry in men’s tennis.
But if we have learned anything from the lockdown that four brilliant tennis players have had, it is that the expected course of events eventually becomes monotonous. Look at it this way: When Djokovic and Alcaraz finally face off at the US Open, the fact that they narrowly missed out on a match at Flushing Meadows in 2023 will make their duel that much sweeter.
Last year’s US Open, with the farewell party for Serena’s retirement and career, brought a turning point. This year’s tournament closed the book and put it back on the shelf.
From the start you could feel the exuberance in the air, an energy that told a story: Djokovic remains – the same as ever – but everyone else in the two fields seemed liberated because they were the shadow of Serena, Nadal and Federer had lost.
The men’s quarterfinals featured not only Alcaraz but also two resurgent Americans in their mid-20s: Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, a fan favorite for his willingness to connect with the audience.
As if to proclaim the fact that black players are an emerging, booming force in both men’s and women’s soccer, Tiafoe and Shelton became the first African-American men to face each other in the final eight of a major championship.
That wasn’t the only notable footnote. Fast-rising Shelton, 20, became the youngest American to reach a US Open semifinal since 1992. He defeated Tiafoe to get there and wowed crowds with serves of 149mph and direct competitive pressure that showed he would shy away from no challenge – even if that challenge was Djokovic.
After defeating Shelton in a hard-fought straight-sets victory to advance to the men’s final, Djokovic mimicked the celebratory gesture Shelton had shown throughout the tournament after the win – an imaginary phone to his ear, which he then slammed on the floor , as if he wanted to Say: “Game, set, match, conversation over.”
The wise master remains and is still willing to provide the little ones with an education for a while.