Monday, September 13, 2021

A Surprising US Open

Wow. What an unexpected plot twist the US Open proved to be in the 2021 tennis season. Everyone was expecting to witness history, with Novak Djokovic being one match away from achieving the Grand Slam. However, Daniil Medvedev had a different idea and beat Djokovic to claim his first major title.

Novak wasn't consistently at his best this tournament. He lost six sets en route to the final and he dropped at least one set to almost all his opponents, even those who weren't seeded. However, in each of those matches, he always found another gear, and when he did, he was practically unplayable. I was still convinced he was going to take home the title because he has such an unparalleled ability to turn matches around and grind out wins even when he isn't at his best.

In the end, it seems the pressure finally got the better of arguably the most mentally tough player in history. Novak was clearly not at his best in the final while Medvedev played top level tennis. One match short of even greater legendary status but Djokovic just couldn't find that extra gear this time.

I've read some people say that winning four-in-a-row is the same whether you do it in the same year or over two years. However, the Grand Slam (which people refer to now as the calendar Grand Slam) is still more difficult to accomplish than a non-calendar Grand Slam, precisely because of the pressure. Remember, Novak won four-in-a-row in 2015-2016. Serena Williams in fact has won four-in-a-row twice, in 2002-2003 and in 2014-2015. Both of these supreme athletes had opportunities to win a proper Grand Slam and both came so tantalizingly close but both missed out on their chances. As such, Steffi Graf is still the last player to win the Grand Slam in the singles main draw, which she did in 1988.

I say main draw because we have two athletes who matched Steffi's rare feat. In fact, just like Graf, they both achieved the Golden Slam. Diede de Groot won all majors and the Olympic Gold in women's wheelchair tennis this year while Dylan Alcott did the same in men's Quad wheelchair tennis. That is impressive!

In the women's main draw, Emma Raducanu surprised everyone by powering through the qualifiers, onto the main draw, and all the way to the US Open Women's trophy. Even more surprising is that she won all her matches, including the ones in qualifying, without dropping a set. Along the way, she beat Olympic Gold medalist Belinda Bencic. In the final, she beat Leylah Fernandez, another up-and-comer who did some even greater giant-killing, beating two previousl world #1s and multiple Grand Slam winners Naomi Osaka (seeded 3) and Angelique Kerber. She also beat 2nd seed Aryna Sabalenka and 5th seed Elina Svitolina. The women's final was the first time in 22 years that two teenagers met in the final of the US Open. When you factor in other young players like Osaka and Iga Swiatek, the future seems very bright for women's tennis.

All in all, this US Open was very interesting and satisfying, what with its unpredictability, the fact that we have first-time winners in the main draw, and wheelchair athletes achieved the Golden Slam. Congratulations Daniil Medvedev, Emma Raducanu, Diede de Groot, and Dylan Alcott!

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