That’s a nice one.
On the women’s side it’s only happened at the USO once in the Open Era - and that was last year.
Iga hasn’t lost a final since she was 17.
Will this be the next?
Too bad Ons was a no-show in the first set. Other than the odd fist-pump, she looked more glum than her usual formidable mein.
Interesting how Iga won this tourney without her A-game (which had been more of a thing earlier this year).
This puzzled me a bit until I saw an article about the line calling. It is now all electronic, but they use recorded voices to “shout” out the call. It really threw me for a loop, because the calls sounded like someone on the court, but since you don’t tend to pay attention to the line judges unless you are look at them, or seem them on a replay, I had not noticed that they were not there. Only after seeing the article did I pay attention and realize that only the ball kids were at the ends of the court.
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Yes, the match with Garcia was much better. I hope the Men’s final does not follow a similar let down. Although I don’t expect that it will be anything near the quality of the previous matches, as long as it stays close that will be great for which ever ends up number 1 in the work on Monday.
Also of interest today is the men’s Wheelchair singles final. If Kunieda wins, he will be the first male player to win four Wheelchair slams in one year, which is just another accomplishment to add to his already amazing career.
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Carlos Alcaraz won the match and the tournament. Only four sets needed this time, probably felt like a quick match to him.
He’s only 19 and has one grand slam under his belt. If he improves further, he could be a real successor to the Big Three. They should all be more or less retired in the next 5-6 years and he’ll only be 25 six years from now.
The highlight reel from the final could easily take up an hour all by itself. There were many great rallies that had no reason to continue for so long if it wasn’t for how well the two were playing. Alcaraz becomes the youngest number one by winning this match and I hope he doesn’t have big sophomore slump.
In other matches Hewett kept Kunieda from winning all four in a year, though Kunieda did say that the loss would motivate him more, and De Groot won again making it 4 slams in a year for a second year in a row.
On the whole, quite a nice US Open
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Heh, wished it woulda gone five sets so CA could set a record four straight five-set victories in a row. As it was, the kid ended up the youngest no. 1 in the history of ATP rankings.
How he could not end up being the successor to compatriot Raffa, I’ll truly wonder. A big ask, sure, but if there’s anyone…
Great finals.
Świątek was dominant in the first set. Jabeur just couldn’t get control. Second set was very close. It’ll be interesting to see their next match up. They’re now ranked one and two in the WTA, with Iga increasing her lead from 4000 to 5000 points. She still has over twice the points as second place. Totally dominant right now in women’s tennis.
Alcaraz defeated Ruud in four sets. First three sets were competitive. By the fourth set Ruud stopped trying to return serves to the T, in a futile attempt to get the wide serves. No doubt in the outcome at that point. Like the women, they’re now ranked first and second in the ATP. It’s good to see turnover.
It varies based on tournament. The French Open and Wimbledon still used line judges. After watching the automated calls at other tournaments, it’s very noticeable how much worse humans are at these calls. Bad calls are disruptive. And players having to challenge calls is disruptive. Play is so much cleaner with the automated calls.
The one problem with the automated calls is that they are audible only. There’s no visual indicator of the judges’ hand signals. This makes it hard to know what the call is when the crowd is loud.
Which reminds me of another problem at the US Open. The crowd was, shall we say, undisciplined. People shouting as the server was in motion. People shouting during the point. It’s unfair to the players, although most of them know better than to complain to the umpire.
But haven’t the US Open fans (especially in Arthur Ashe) always been kinda Davis Cup-y? Not that boisterous, perhaps, but definitely more so than in the other three big tourneys, I’ve always noticed.
Sorry, missed edit window again. Another crowd nuisance is cheering after a fault. I always yell “shut up!”, as people in the room look at me and I have to tell them I was addressing the crowd. I hate it when the ump doesn’t put an immediate kibosh (“please”, “thank-you”) on those annoyances.
Federer announces retirement. Laver Cup will be his final event.
This is sad to hear. I really was hoping he could beat Jimmy Connor’s record if nothing else, and of course, get to see him play live. Alas, that was not to be. To a certain extent I like that he did it in a way that didn’t make him have a farewell tour which would put the focus of each tournament on him, though I am sure Laver Cup will be very well attended this year.
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I knew Federer would retire but am still sad. He was the best and while I get that Nadal or Novak will probably end up being considered the best, he was at the top of the game a couple years before they arrived and I will remember him as the one that elevated men’s tennis to a new level.
I knew this day would come and no joke, I may tear up when he plays his final match.
A simple incline of the head and a jaunty salute to Roger to see him off into retirement.
Nothing left to be said. Nothing left to prove.
A true great and the one thing the raw numbers cannot quantify is the beauty and effortless elegance of his game. None better. It disguised the power and ferocity from everyone but the poor sod at the other end of the net.
He will be sorely missed of course but we were so fortunate to have him for so long.
Lovely little message from Nadal of course, I’d expect nothing less.
Had always hoped, in vain, that he would’ve gone down as The Greatest.
Meh - screw numbers, he definitely…
And for that, alone, he’ll stand above all, as far as I’m concerned.
I was skeptical around 2003 or so. I was hearing that his game was incredible, but I was pretty convinced Pete Sampras was the best and we wouldn’t see another like him in our lives, at least not most likely.
I never expected Pete to be surpassed by three people and that all three would play at the same time, dominating the entire sport. Strange world we live in. When Sampras retired, he was in the conversation of greatest of all time. Now? No way.
Interesting. Do you feel he eclipsed - or at the very least, reached a more exalted level - than Borg/Connors/McEnroe?
(Sure, I’m pitting one against three, but those three tend to get clustered together like those, heh, “other three” do.) (And of course, he was no Tim Henman) (but who was? 
)
(guess it wouldn’t hurt getting a little derail-y, here)
Eclipsed for sure.