US Open verdict:A poor end to the year
James Blackburn discusses his verdict on the US Open; ‘Tired players, low quality matches and boring winners made this renewal one to forget‘
Arthur Ashe stadium is the largest in all of tennis and is so often the booming soundtrack to iconic matches: think Kim Clijsters’ comeback win in 2009, Andy Murray breaking his major duck in 2012 at the fifth time of asking or deafening boos during the controversial 2018 Williams-Osaka final. This year, though, you could be forgiven for thinking this was a 500 event, such was the lack of enthusiasm from the crowds.
The men’s tournament in particular was disappointing. Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic’s shock second round exits were indicative of a post-Olympics burnout, unsurprising given the emotional toll of that epic gold medal match on both men, clearing the way for a fresh Jannik Sinner to claim his second hard court slam of the year.
That Sinner would play just days after being embroiled in a doping controversy for having a trace amount of Clostebol, a steroid, in his system (he has been ruled not at fault by an independent tribunal, though the World Anti-Drug Agency is still investigating) meant that his own celebration was understated and left a cloud hanging over the tournament.
Sinner’s straight sets win in the final over Fritz felt inevitable, despite Sinner rarely reaching his mercurial best throughout over the fortnight, which left fans struggling to engage in what was already an historic match given Fritz was the first American man in a slam final since 2009. Jeopardy was scarce in this contest save for Fritz going a break up in the third, before Sinner quickly reestablished his authority to win.
Working backwards from the semis, what should’ve been a feast of tennis — the All-American showdown between Fritz and Francis Tiafoe — ended on a down note after Tiafoe crumbled in the fifth. You had the bizarre Sinner-Draper match where the Brit vomited a number of times on court in what felt like the longest three-setter ever due to Sinner’s forehand going missing.
Tiafoe-Dimitrov in the quarters ended with a heartbreaking retirement for the Bulgarian; we were robbed of a contest between Draper and Alex De Minaur owing to the reoccurence of De Minaur’s hip injury; Sinner-Medvedev didn’t live up to expectation… I could go on.
Why were all these matches not up to standard then? I think the answer lies in the gruelling schedule on the ATP and WTA tour in 2024. Several players have expressed their frustration with the non-stop tennis season, such as women’s World No.1 Iga Swiatek who has voiced concerns about the impact of the schedule on players’ physical and mental wellbeing, stating that “we don’t have time to work on stuff or live peacefully.” Olympic silver medallist Donna Vekic echoed Swiatek’s sentiment, saying that “the schedule is absolutely brutal” and that “you don’t have time to relax, get rest before you start training again.”
Words by James Blackburn
Cover image credit : The Standard/ Reuters
