In Flushing, Queens, the U.S. Open tennis tournament begins on Sunday. Arthur Ashe Stadium’s large arena will host some of the tournament’s main events. Arthur was a notable American men’s tennis player who won the national championship in 1968 at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, when the competition was still played on grass. Almost in formation, Stan Smith, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, and Andre Agassi were the American men’s champions in the Open who followed Arthur.
Andy Roddick, who won a major championship at the 2003 Open 22 years ago, was the last American man in line. Additionally, be aware that Roddick was an equally outstanding player. After winning this one major, he lost against Roger Federer four times in Grand Slam finals, including three at Wimbledon and one at the Open. In one of those Wimbledon finals he didn t finally lose until it was 16-14 in the fifth set.
However, hasn’t it been a minute for American men in majors? Since it is past due for it to occur here or elsewhere, perhaps this time may be different. The biggest story at the end of this Open might not be Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who will be attempting to face each other in three consecutive Grand Slam finals, but rather Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, or perhaps Frances Tiafoe, who has been vying for attention for a few years. That hasn’t occurred since 2011 and 2012, when Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal squared off in the Wimbledon and Open finals, respectively.
Right after Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic combined to win an incredible 66 majors (Connors, McEnroe, and Bjorn Borg won 26), men’s tennis witnessed the emergence of their rivalry, with one or the other having won eight of the last nine majors and the last seven. After a five-hour and 29-minute French Open final that ended in a fifth-set tiebreaker and was, in my opinion, the best men’s tennis match ever played, Sinner and Alcaraz are the ones who now make the sport feel as huge as ever when they play.
Alcaraz is 22 and Sinner is 24. Before one of them turns 25, they have now won nine majors between them. This rivalry might continue for the next ten years or longer if they are fortunate enough to be healthy and keep in mind that Sinner had to withdraw from the Cincinnati final due to illness on Monday afternoon. At the age of 36, Federer won his final major, the Australian in 2018. When Nadal won his last French Open, he had just turned 36. At the age of 36, Djokovic played in his final major match to date at the 2023 Open. Therefore, if Sinner and Alcaraz both go the distance the way Fed, Rafa, and Djokovic did, the opportunities seem limitless.
Once more: These two young men restore the importance and glamour of men’s tennis to the heyday of Connors, McEnroe, and Borg in the 1970s and 1980s. Then came Sampras and Agassi, who together won 22 majors and whose rivalry dominated the sport until their magnificent Open final in 2002, the year before Roddick’s, in what was effectively Sampras’ final stand in the fourth set of that day.
After that, Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic essentially took over the stage for the next 20 years, which is nearly as long as Alcaraz has been alive. However, just think of how significant it would feel to people in this nation once more for a few weeks if an American man were to win the Open and surprise everyone. For the first time since Roddick, who coincidentally lived out his best years during Federer’s, just think of what a moment it would be for American tennis.
When Federer defeated Roddick in the 2009 Wimbledon final, it was his fifteenth major, surpassing Sampras at the age of 14. We had no idea that Federer would go on to win five more majors. But Sampras as in the Royal Box at Centre Court that day in July of 09, and when it was over Roddick said this to him from the court:
I’m sorry, Pete. I tried to keep him away, I know.
Roddick was at the wrong moment. Fritz, who in September became the first American guy since Roddick to reach a major final before colliding with Sinner, may be at the wrong moment. That one ended with Sinner winning 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. Fritz, who won’t turn 28 until October, had defeated Tiafoe in the semifinals before this.
However, Shelton, who is only 22 years old and became the youngest American to make it to the major semifinals in more than 30 years two years ago, is now the American guy with the most potential. He is the most thrilling and entertaining American man since Roddick was hammering serves and swinging away from the baseline when he was Shelton’s age. He is a big guy with a game to match and a wealth of talent.
The problem Shelton at the moment is that he is in Alcaraz s quarter of the draw, which is never a good place to be, even on a hardcourt, probably the Spanish kid s weakest surface, if Alcaraz has such a thing.
Shelton just had his best victory to date a few weeks ago in Toronto. However, it doesn’t matter that Sinner and Alcaraz didn’t attend that event. In New York, however, both will be present as Sinner attempts to win his fourth major in the previous five. Sinner would have gone for the calendar Grand Slam in men’s tennis if he had converted any one of his three match points against Alcaraz in Paris. Only Don Budge and Rod Laver have ever achieved this feat on the men’s side. However, you can be sure that Alcaraz will be eager for a rematch with Sinner because, less than two months ago, Sinner stopped him from winning three consecutive Wimbledons.
Shelton recently stated, “I think I’m one of those guys. There are a lot of great players, hungry, in-form players who are looking to do some damage.”
In many respects, Shelton, a young player who has already advanced to the semifinals of two major tournaments (including the Australian), is currently ranked third in the world. And for American tennis, that is excellent news. The bad news is that Sinner and Alcaraz, the top two picks, are the major dogs.
One of these days, another American man is going to win a major. He might need to knock off Sinner or Alcaraz in order to accomplish it anytime soon. or both. Shelton is the greatest option if it does occur. I’m betting on him. Regardless of whether Sinner-Alcaraz III is the result, it will be entertaining to watch the big kid try.
Please tell me how Jazz Chisholm became so good at the Bronx Bomber that Aaron Boone was never able to pinch-hit for him.
People pretended that the Yankees’ four mistakes on Thursday night were excessive.
Repeat: The Sleepy Hollow kid, Cameron Young, should be a member of the Ryder Cup squad.
Regardless of what transpires with the Mets in the remaining time, I will repeat this question:
What action has David Stearns taken since taking over that has significantly increased his baseball team’s chances of winning the championship?
I’m upset that Coco Gauff hasn’t asked me to be her coach, so forget about not getting invited to join Mike Brown’s staff.
By the way?
I recently read about Brown’s offensive and defensive coordinators, and it brought back memories of Red Holzman’s time when the only people seated beside him were Dick Barnett and Big Time Danny Whelan, the Knicks trainer.
The Giants are quickly reaching the point where they can only expect to control Jaxson Dart rather than stop him.
However, the situation with Dart and the Giants remains the same:
Their regular-season schedule is the most rigorous I’ve ever seen.
Without Aaron Rodgers consuming all of the oxygen in the room, it’s definitely quiet here.
If you don’t know how to use them properly, none of the relief pitchers in the world will help you reach the top, am I correct?
The FBI in those television shows is run way better than the one we ve got going these days.
Maybe this is the year when the U.S. Open figures out a way not to have matches end in the middle of the night.
One more thing about tennis today:
There was no one more responsible for making the Open the big deal it became once it moved to Flushing than Jimmy Connors.
One of these days the USTA ought to find a way to acknowledge that somewhere on the grounds.
The Red Sox getting rid of Rafael Devers really was a classic example of addition by subtraction in sports.
In the end, Micah Parsons will do everything except dunk the ball on Jerry Jones.
Once more, for the West Coast:
All this publicity Jerry gets how s that working out for his football team?
You know who had a better chance than Giancarlo Stanton of catching that ball Alex Bregman hit to right field on Thursday night?
Everyone.
James Patterson and Mike Lupica s new Jane Smith thriller, The Hamptons Lawyer, has now spent a month on the Best Seller lists of both the New York Times and Publishers Weekly.
