The U.S. Open tennis championship has a big problem, but it has nothing to do with the play at the tournament that ended on Sunday. The men's quarterfinals matched number eight seed, Ben Shelton (U.S.)—holder of zero major championship titles—against defending champion, 23-year-old Carlos Alvaraz (Spain)—holder of an astounding seven major titles at such a young age. Viewers—the ones able to stay awake—got treated to five sets of stunning tennis skill that the 23-year-old American capped off with a 146-mph winning serve at 3:33 a.m. to take the fifth set tiebreaker and move on to the semifinals against fellow American, Francis Tiafoe. I’ve stayed up for these late-night matches for years, but it's unfair to both players and fans.
The problem is that four back-to-back matches preceded the Shelton-Alcaraz match in Arthur Ashe stadium, pushing the starting time for the final match of the evening to 11. One option is to put a curfew on the starting time for the last match of the day, a measure Wimbledon and the French Open have put in place, even though it's unfair to both players who have to wait until the next day to finish their match, and fans who’ve paid to see that matchup.
The tournament could choose to schedule fewer matches at Ashe, the largest tennis venue in the world, meaning the tournament would sacrifice revenue. The uproar over post-midnight tennis reached its peak this year, so maybe fixing the problem is going to cost some money. There are those who favor shortening some earlier matches from the best-of-five format to best-of-three, a fundamental change in the game that would rob fans of the most dramatic situation in the men’s game—the final fifth set.
What also must be fixed is the negativity that so-called “influencers”—one of the scourges of our time—brought to the tournament. During a Naomi Osaka match, influencers in a hospitality suite staged an impromptu photo/video shoot that included standing, talking loudly, and using a bright portable ring light. The activity became distracting enough that play was interrupted. Groups were taking selfies and posing while matches were underway. A bunch of TikTokers did a dance routine on a balcony during a match.
On the women's side of the draw, this tournament looked, from the beginning, to be heading towards a dramatic showdown between Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus), who previously had accumulated roughly 200 weeks at WTA number one, and the new number one, Elena Rybakina (Kazakhstan via Russia), her current top rival, and now nemesis. Sabalenka arrived in New York as the two-time defending champion trying to become the first woman since Serena Williams to win three straight U.S. Opens. Rybakina, the upstart, was playing her first U.S. Open final.
The anticipated matchup came to fruition, with Rybakina confirming her newfound top rating with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 victory. A recent study found that Sabalenka’s average forehand, which is flat, travels faster through the air than the forehand of the average male pro (she doesn't spin it for control like they do), but Rybakina absorbed her power and used her returning ability to consistently apply pressure to her rival’s serve. At the conclusion of the match, Sabalenka demonstrated why she's so hard to like. Before going to the net for the post-match handshake, she smashed her racket on the court. Once on the sideline, the Belarusian continued her racquet abuse, and then told a cameraman doing his job to “fuck off,” as if pro tennis players get a safe space in which to recover after a loss. During the trophy presentation ceremony, Sabalenka rolled her eyes.
The media went easy on Sabalenka’s unacceptable behavior because she's a woman, just like they did in the 2009 U.S. Open when Serena Williams, in a fit of rage, told a linesperson, “I swear to God I'll fucking take the ball and shove it down your fucking throat.” Had a “bad boy” champion like Novak Djokovic said something like that to an official try to imagine the ensuing media uproar and punishment meted out by tennis authorities.
But neither Djokovic nor Roger Federer nor any of the men who’ve won major tournaments in recent decades (probably in history) have ever smashed their racquet before shaking hands with their opponent after losing in the finals of a major tournament.
In the last few years, Japanese player Naomi Osaka hasn't been able to recapture her earlier major-winning form with her racquet, but she's found another, easier way to remain in the spotlight. Entering the court for one of her matches, she unveiled a bizarre look with a long, oversized, gray hooded robe/coat. The distressed newspaper clippings decorating the robe were from articles about Osaka's own career. That, plus the ultra-serious look on her face, suggested an unsettling level of self-involvement. The tennis establishment ate up Osaka’s grandstanding—”stunning,” “winning the fashion game,” etc. Entering the court with that bold look tells me the player’s announcing an intention to kick ass in the tournament, but Osaka only made it to the fourth round, and then told the media she wasn't disappointed with her loss. It looks like her glory days as a player are well behind her, although her fashion future looks bright.
The final of the men's championship offered a chance for an American to win the U.S. Open for the first time since Andy Roddick took the title in 2003. Ben Shelton was also poised to win his first major championship, but fatigue caught up with him and he fell to this year's French Open champ, Alexander Zverev, in four sets. Still, the Floridian who took the 2022 NCAA singles title made the tournament a breakthrough event by getting to his first major championship. His future looks brilliant.
As for Zverev, he’s won a total of two major singles titles now while only having to face one top 10 player—Shelton. World number one Jannik Sinner was out of both the French Open (as was number two Carlos Alcarez) and The U.S. Open, due to injuries. The word “cakewalk” comes to mind. Nobody can take the trophies from the German, but he's got asterisks next to both of his career highlights.