Emergence of young US stars
This year, we’re seeing a surprising amount of new and upcoming American athletes who performed well at the US Open.
First up, the star from last year’s US Open, Frances Tiafoe. After building off of his success and his strong, spirited fight against Carlos Alcaraz last year which was praised by Michelle Obama herself, Tiafoe made it to the quarterfinals of this year’s US Open rather easily. Tiafoe is now ranked #10 in the world compared to #22 last year and had a good run until he fell against fellow countryman Ben Shelton.
Speaking of Ben Shelton, he made it all the way to the semifinals against none other than Novak Djokovic. Shelton, unseeded, caught attention by hitting the fastest serve in the US Open this year at 149 mph. He defeated two compatriots, Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe, to get to the semis against Djokovic. Despite having the crowd’s support as the only American man left in the draw, he lost all 3 sets against Djokovic. But there’s not really much you can do when you’re faced against Djokovic, who ended up winning the tournament and getting a 24th Grand Slam title.
Madison Keys was an unexpected performer this year, making it all the way to the semifinals. Keys beat three other top-20-ranked players, including compatriot Jessica Pegula before facing Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal. Keys, ranked #17, 6-0’d the No. 2 seed Sabalenka (and now world number one) and was up 5-3 in the second set. Things seemed over for Sabalenka and it looked to be an all-American women’s final… but you can never count out these top-ranked players. Sabalenka forced Keys to a tiebreak in the 2nd set and ended up winning it. She was even behind in the 3rd set but then forced it to a tiebreak and won that set as well. It was absolutely heartbreaking for Keys but well-deserved for Sabalenka. Still, Madison Keys has a lot more tennis to look forward to and she will only grow from here, although this loss will hurt for a while.
And now, the star of American tennis at the moment, Coco Gauff. After a first-round loss at Wimbledon earlier this year, Gauff entered a stage of rebuilding as she started working with a new coach, Brad Gilbert (Andy Murray’s former coach). She saw quick success after winning the Washington D.C. Citi Open and the Cincinnati Open, where she beat top players like Maria Sakkari and former No. 1 Iga Świątek. She triumphed in both singles and doubles matches but made a particularly spectacular run in singles as being the crowd favorite in every match she played. She was ruthless in her play, 6’0ing the world No. 20 Ostapenko and winning both the quarters and semis in straight sets before finally playing Sabalenka in the final. Despite losing the first set, Coco managed to keep her nerve and win the next two sets to secure her first Major title. She was the youngest American to do it since none other than Serena Williams back in 1999, and she avenged her compatriot Madison Keys’ loss the other day. It looks like we have a new successor to Serena Williams on our hands!
New golden era of women’s tennis
Women’s tennis in particular seems to have increased in popularity here in the U.S. due to Coco Gauff’s incredible run. The young teenager is surprisingly mature for her age, proving critics who said she wouldn’t ever be able to win a Major title wrong. Instead, she said that she is especially thankful for them for giving her motivation to push herself harder. This mindset makes it easy to believe that this won’t be her only Grand Slam title and that she could be the future for both women’s and American tennis.
