The New York blues

"Parting is such sweet sorrow..."

It’s over, folks. The last major tournament of the year has ended. The crowds were crowding, the winners were shining and the losers were Americans. Sorry.

As I was walking over the decrepit wooden planks towards the 7 train after the men’s final, hordes of people around me, the sun setting over the skyline, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly exhausted. Three weeks came, three weeks went. In a blink of an eye, there were no surprises at all. Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner are the champions. They were the best hardcourt players of the season and they sandwiched the quadruple of majors. If I had to put a theme on this year’s US Open I would pick ‘resilience’. Both Aryna and Jannik had a difficult year despite their successes. Their problems had little to do with their form so it made their form even more impressive.

Although they shine the brightest in the city of neon lights, they were not the only ones who have shown resilience in a tough Olympic year with multiple surface changes and very little rest. Let’s get into it.

The Women

“There’s a point when you go with what you’ve got. Or you don’t go.” (Joan Didion)

Seriously, was Joan Didion a tennis player? She must have been. Like in every major tournament, narratives were put in place, then put to bed only for new stories to emerge. An example for that was Naomi Osaka’s second round match against Karolina Muchova. Naomi, it seemed, had it all: the fashion, the Top 10 upset, the game. New York was ready for a genre of story they love most. A former superstar, sidelined by life’s circumstances, re-emerges on the biggest of stages. Think, Celine Dion at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. You may think it weird, but I swear the French announcers were openly weeping on air. And yet, that story was quickly buried at the hands of Karolina Muchova who would have none of it and instead etched her own name on top of Naomi’s. Sports in general can be brutal and tennis is a tenfold that. The queen is dead, long live the queen. At least for a day before another queen is crowned.

take a bow

Karolina Muchova was a story of resilience, too. We don’t associate that word with her because everything she does on court looks so effortless. The elegance of her technique, the beauty of her movements. But it takes guts and perseverance to keep coming back from injuries. It requires a certain kind of toughness. “There’s a point when you go with what you’ve got. Or you don’t go.” She’s smart, she’s well-spoken. She could do a million other things and yet it is tennis she chooses over and over again. We see the lightness on court, we can only guess the efforts it took to get there. I hope we get to see the lightness of Karolina Muchova a lot more in the future.

Karolina was up 6:1 2:0 on Jessica Pegula in the semifinals. It could have been over, it probably should have been, if that Jess Pegula wasn’t just so bloody persistent. A volley by Muchova Jess didn’t have to run down after being outplayed for a set and little bit, she could have let it go, tell herself “better luck next time, Jess”, have a beer, call it day. But that’s not what she did. She ran, she hustled, she got it. A forehand slice, a netted volley and the match had turned on a dime. And Jess continued in this vein. Down in set 1 against Aryna Sabalenka, down in set 2 - she had accomplished so much, the first semis at a major ever, the first final, was it not time to lay down the arms? No, it wasn’t. Jess hung in there, made Aryna pray, as Aryna said in her trophy’s speech, made her pray that she would turn the second set around. Aryna did. She is the last queen standing. What a queen she is! We will get to her momentarily but a few words on Emma Navarro first.

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Her transformation from talented college player to consummate professional has truly been mind-blowing. I played her in my last year of professional tennis and you could tell that she was going to be very good one day but I also thought it would take at least 5 years. Boy, was I wrong. In short, Emma became an athlete. She lost a few pounds, gained some muscle mass and her foot speed and court awareness can now be applied at full force to playing tennis. Her biggest strength, however, is the ability to look over on the other side. I know, this might sound like the easiest thing in the world but most tennis players are preoccupied with their own thoughts and feelings and their own tennis, they forget to look over on the other side. It’s a unique ability. She saw that Paula Badosa was having a hard time and Emma didn’t miss a ball anymore. She felt that Coco Gauff was shaky and Emma pounced. The ability to get out of her own way will get her far - not only in tennis.

Now, finally, let’s talk about Aryna Sabalenka. She may not have been born in New York like Paula Badosa or Emma Navarro. She may not even be from the state of New York like Jess Pegula. But I’ll be damned if Aryna Sabalenka is not the most quintessential New York figure to play this year’s US Open. Loud, charismatic, glistening. Chaotic, overwhelming and very much in your face. I love her, just as much as I love New York.

She wasn’t only playing Jess Pegula in the final, Aryna was also playing Coco Gauff from last year’s final, Iga Swiatek from the semifinals in the year before that and possibly even Leylah Fernandez from the semifinals in 2021. Every time, she got so close and every time, it slipped through her fingers in the last moment. Not this time. With the fastest forehand on average of the tournament, you read correctly of the TOURNAMENT, men and women, making her racquet an exorcist of past demons, she marched to the top with only one set lost. Resilience was etched onto Aryna’s spirit and she wears it proudly like a cape. She is the last queen standing, the best hardcourt player of the season. And a flipping fun one, too.

that dress though *insert fire emoji*

Honourable mentions: Paula Badosa is back with aplomb after a stress fracture in her lower back cost her an entire season. And the best match of this year’s US Open goes to Donna Vekic and Qinwen Zheng who played high quality tennis until 2am for fans drunk enough to almost fall onto the court. It was glorious.

The Men

“Courage is grace under pressure.” (Ernest Hemingway)

Okay, we have to talk about the puking. Now, normally when I get assigned to do court side commentary I rejoice. It’s my favourite thing in the world. You have the best seat in the house and you come in on air only every other game. What’s not to like? Let’s just say I felt different about it after that now infamous Jack Draper and Jannik Sinner match. Jannik Sinner kept spitting pickle juice into a trash can right in front of me and Jack Draper’s vomit filled the air with stench. It was awkward, to say the least. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but admire them both. Especially Jack Draper. First of all, he has the best ATP bio page of all. I would know because I have to read them all the time. Favourite band Oasis but favourite music genre grime and rap? Hell yeah. More importantly, though, his toughness, his resilience (to come back to this year’s US Open theme) was what won me over in the end. He might need some lessons of how to clean up his own sick - don’t use the towel you will use on your face a few moments later for starters or as Laura Robson said “in terms of hygiene we could do better down here” - but everything else is nicely in place for a stellar career. The serve and the will. He’s got the guts but lacks the gut, if you know what I mean.

moments after and before jack draper puked on court

To be fair, there was a lot to stomach (LOL) playing the best player on the planet right now in Jannik Sinner. For anybody who finds his tennis boring, I would urge you to try and see him live if you can. The way he moves, always in perfect balance, the way his body is leaned slightly forward as if going down a slope on skis, is a thing of beauty. No matter how hard you hit at him, he never falls out of his equilibrium. The same could be said for his demeanour off-court. He just moves on. Something you can’t really see on TV is the astonishing fact that Jannik hits the ball even harder, even more decisively, when the biggest moment of the match comes around. Even Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal would sometimes take some of the pace off to make more balls when crunch time is on. Not so Jannik Sinner, he goes for bigger shots, he goes for more and somehow counterintuitively they seem to become safer the harder he hits. Truly stunning to watch.

One of the more important things to figure out in anybody’s tennis game is how to find the right balance between relaxation and focus. Between tension and looseness. Jannik Sinner seems to have the secret recipe. Which one of you is willing to try and extricate it from him?

i would like to eat his hair

This text is already becoming so much longer than expected so just a few more words on the American men. On Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz who met in the other semifinal of the US Open men’s tournament. Ever since Andy Roddick won the US Open in 2003 there has been no American major champion on the men’s side. The US has fantastic players, 5 in the Top 20, but they just can’t quite edge over the finish line. Yet. They are getting closer. They are collecting valuable experience data. I could see a plan forming in Taylor Fritz’ face after he had lost the final, sitting on the bench, sweat dripping from his hair, the mouth contorting. If he ever wins a major title, this moment right there will have been the moment of his origin story.

What Aryana Sabalenka is for the women in terms of quintessential New Yorkness, that is Frances Tiafoe for the men. Athletes may be loved at times but Frances is adored here in New York. And rightfully so. He mixes entertainment, fun and skill and when he can translate that into wins as well he is always the man of the moment. And how about those guns? Sleeveless shirts for other players: questionable. Sleeveless shirts for Frances: 100% yes.

best dressed man at the open

There is so much more to say and write and talk about but it is Monday so I will bring it to an end. It is also:

Things that make me happy:

…my birthday! I love my birthday! I will eat cake and doughnuts and sing karaoke!

birthdays are *thumbs up*

Things that me unhappy:

Nick Kyrgios on X. His escapades on there make me sad (and angry but mostly sad). He could be truly fantastic on TV but he keeps self-sabotaging with misogynist nonsense. I may not be a fan of his fashion on TV (but I’m also old - see ‘things that make me happy’ - and a strong believer in suits for men) but his content is great. Unfortunately, he taints it with his online persona. The one thing that makes or breaks somebody on TV is their authenticity and whether people choose to believe them. For anybody who’s heard Tom Brady’s first day on TV, Brady is a perfect example. He knows what he’s talking about, of course he does, but he doesn’t sound it (at least he didn’t sound like it on his first day). And that’s where the disconnect comes from. Nick says good things about women’s tennis on air but if he disparages them online, at one point people will stop believing him on air, too.

This is it for now! I apologise for spamming your inbox on a Monday - because that’s what we all need on a Monday, right, is MORE emails. But I hope it also brings you joy.

Yours truly, Andrea