To put the last week of August and the first week of September into US Open perspective is daunting. After all, it is New York… which can be timelapse undefinable.
The setting is Eclectic… Striking… Busy… Boisterous… Occasionally overwhelming… It is just the way New York is.
Here are some examples of what makes the US Open the essence of Grand Slam tournament diversity…
Chelsey Farris, a St. Louis, Missouri native, became the first woman in 15 years to design the theme art for the 2024 US Open. Titled “Celebrating the Power of Tennis”, other than Wii Tennis, Farris had no exposure to the sport.
During the fall and winter, the US Open annually searches for an artist to be featured at the next tournament. Carrie Ehorn, USTA Director of Pro Tennis Marketing, discovered Farris’ work online and asked her to submit ideas. A committee then made her this year’s tournament messenger…
Ehorn has “The Eye” having found the unique work of many of those who designed US Open art.
During the championships, Farris’ images, including 3D sculptures, decorated the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Playing through the 128 deep Qualifying Draw for one of the 16 Main Draw spots available at a Grand Slam tournament is exacting. In New York, five Australian women – Destanee Aiava, Kimberly Birrell, Priscilla Hon, Maya Joint and Arina Rodionova – were successful. Li Tu on the men’s side made the country’s total six. France finished second in the Qualifying competitor’s count with four.
Aiava and Rodionova danced through the three rounds winning each match in straight sets. Two of Hon’s contests went the three-set distance while Birrell and Joint each had one three-set joust.
Birrell’s last “Play in…” contest drew notice because she defeated wild card Julieta Pareja, 6-3, 6-3. Pareja, a 15-year-old Carlsbad Seaside Academy high school sophomore from California, became the youngster player to win a SoCal Pro Series title in June… And she was unseeded.
Joint, an 18-year-old Australian born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and the third youngest player in the draw, is planning to attend the University of Texas. (Remember alum Lulu Sun’s exploits at The Championships this summer?) Joint defeated 36-year-old Laura Siegemund of Germany 6-4, 7-5 in her first Main Draw match then lost to Madison Keys… Playing through the Qualifying into the second-round, she earned US$146,657 but can only accept US$10,000 unless she can justify “actual and necessary” tournament expenses to the NCAA beyond that amount.
February and March were eventful months for University of North Carolina’s Reese Brantmeier. Her sophomore season ended abruptly when she tore the meniscus in her right during the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Indoor Championships in February… In March, she sued the NCAA to eliminate the “actual and necessary” rule for amateurs in light of the serious injury. In a recent interview, Joint explained that she had visited with Brantmeier, who is attempting to retain more of the US$49,000 she earned at the US Open in 2021.
Tu’s performance was stirring… A touted junior who made his ITF Futures debut in 2011… He had little success.
By June of 2014 the lack of results led him to retire, and he began studying to become an economist. Six years after stopping, he returned to competitive tennis in 2020.
But it wasn’t until 2023 when he qualified for the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island that he stepped through the “Player” door. He qualified in Newport again this year then earned a place in New York… Though he lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to Carlos Alcaraz in the first round, the 28-year-old played an entertaining match until he “lost his legs” pursuing the Spaniard’s telling shots.
While his 2020 comeback was enticing, the year became momentous in December, when he met Kimberley at the Sydney Airport. They began a relationship and originally, planned to marry November 25, 2022… But his mother Yu Ping Zheng was in ill-health, so they changed their wedding date to September 3…. Yu Ping passed away 21 days later. Tu has dedicated his tennis to her ever since saying, “She is still with me…”
When talk turns to Ukrainian women on the tour, Elina Svitolina is usually the first player mentioned. Spirited Marta Kostyuk is probably next followed by Dayana Yastremska, Anhelina Kalinina, Lesia Tsurenko and Daria Snigur along with the doubles playing sisters Lyudmyla and Nadiia Kichenok.
For some reason Yuliia Starodubtseva doesn’t have Blue and Yellow celebrity… But she should. With her 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 US Open Qualifying victory over Sonay Kartal of Great Britain she accomplished a Grand Slam women’s first.
In 2024 the former Old Dominion University star qualified at each of the majors. Frank Dancevic of Canada was the first man to score a quadruple Slam Qualifying in 2011. As a fan noted, “This is quite an amazing statistic…”
Thirteen years later, because of the game’s competitive depth, Starodubtseva’s accomplishment is even more substantial. Coached by Kalinina’s grandmother until she was 15 and never touted as a junior, she decided to attend Old Dominion… Though she spoke little English a safety-net existed… There were Ukrainians on the women’s team.
Between 2017 and ’22, she was a two-time conference Player of the Year and earned an undergraduate degree in Communications. Taking advantage of the COVID-19 extra year that was made available to college competitors, she received a master’s degree in Sports Management while playing as a graduate student.
Having turned 24 in February, her younger sister Diana is a sophomore at Hampton University in Virginia. Their mother Lidiia left Kakhovka, the family’s hometown in southern Ukraine, after the war began and settled in Ireland. But like so many Ukrainian players, family members are still caught up in the pillaging that is taking place.
Starodubtseva began her historic Qualifying quest defeating Gabriela Knutson, an American born Czech performer, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 for a place in the Australian Open. At Roland Garros, she was 6-3, 6-2 better than Marina Stakusic of Canada in the final round and her spot in the main draw at the All England Lawn Tennis Club was confirmed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Maddison Inglis of Australia. The rarity of her accomplishment should now move Yuliia Starodubtseva out of the “Who” category.
In the first-round, Sloane Stephens performed nothing like the player who has the 2017 US Open Women’s Singles trophy in her collection. It was a showing memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Her talent was flowing in the first set against Clara Burel as she raced to a 6-0 lead against her French opponent. In fact, Stephens won the first nine games and was up 3-0 in the second … Then she disappeared… failing to close the match out in straight sets, after being ahead 4-1 and 5-2… Burel escaped with the second set, 7-5.
The third set was an amalgamation of astonishing winners and recreational player misses. In the end, it was Burel’s day, and she claimed a 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory.
For Stephens, who combines talent as a player with uniqueness as an individual, it was one of her most ignominious losses. Zhang Shuai of China duplicated Stephens’ collapse, winning the first set 6-0 against Ashlyn Krueger of the US before losing an Open Era record 23rd consecutive singles match 0-6, 6-1, 7-5. (Zhang was in the main draw on an injury protected ranking).
Asides…
Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini were the only women in 2024 to reach the fourth round or better at every major. Paolini led the tour with 18 Grand Slam singles wins – a record by an Italian player in a calendar year during the Open Era.
The inaugural “Mixed Madness” on August 20th showcased “Names” as Nick Kyrgios teamed with Naomi Osaka.
The two US pairings were Taylor Fritz and Amanda Anisimova and Ben Shelton and Coco Gauff.
But Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa, a real-life partnership nicknamed “Tsitsidosa”, downed Fritz and Anisimova to win the $250, 000 prize.
“… it was one of the coolest date nights I could’ve asked for…”, Tsitsipas said. The USTA Foundation, which funds National Junior Tennis and Learning, the program founded by Arthur Ashe, Charlie Pasarell and Sheridan Snyder, benefitted from the event’s success.
After serving as an ESPN commentator for the first-round match between Novak Djokovic and qualifier Radu Albot of Moldova, which in their first meeting, the Serbian won 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, John McEnroe appeared on ESPN Sports Center. Being “True to his nature…”, he candidly wondered how Italian Jannik Sinner’s two positive steroids tests in March only came to light less than a week before the tournament began. As he has done in the past, McEnroe called attention to the fact the players need a real union. “How,” he asked, “can the ATP represent the players when they work with the tournament directors who also have a seat on the ATP board…?”
Djokovic followed McEnroe’s appearance and delightfully explained that the Albot victory was important saying, “It was revenge because I have two brothers who played on the tour and they both lost to Radu. This was his first time I played him so with the win, the Djokovic score against Albot is now 1-2.”
On August 25, the tournament remembered Althea Gibson. The legend who broke the US National Championships “Color Barrier” at Forest Hills in 1950, was saluted on what would have been her 97th birthday and the fifth anniversary of the day her statue was unveiled adjacent to Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Prior to the tournament Dan Evans observed that “It’s a strange year. That’s for sure.” This was an apt prelude to his five hours and 30-minute astonishing 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 first-round victory over Karen Khachanov. It was the longest match in US Open history.
After being down 0-4 in the fifth set, Evans came back to win the last six games.
Though he won a second-round match against Mariano Navone of Argentina in straight sets, the toll of the Khachanov contest came due in the following round as Alex de Minaur of Australia collected a 6-3, 6-7, 6-0, 6-0 victory.