This year was turbulent and stormy, even Hurricane Ida played a role in this year’s championships. As the curtains close on the 2021 grand slam season, a plethora of opportunities to make history was on the rise during this year’s US Open Tennis Championships.
Big Stars Missing in the Open:
The tennis world was taken out by a whirlwind of injuries that forced the top legends to miss this year’s US Open – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams all announced their withdrawal from the tournament that left the fans in desperation to pick a new favorite. Also added to the injury list was last year’s champion Dominic Thiem. While the buzz word of ‘Big Three’ in the tennis arena faded away, the opportunity to make history by winning a calendar grand slam and 21st major loomed large in front of Djokovic, who is still the Big One and best in business when it comes to major finals, so the championship was very much at the disposal of his racquet. On the women’s side, with Serena missing out, it was an open field as it has been the past few years with no clear favorite to win the title.
Brit Overpowers the Battle of Gen-Z:
Familiar names on the women’s draw like Ash Barty, Simona Halep, Naomi Osaka were ousted early in the tournament that left some new names to the limelight for the championship. The women’s singles final was between Emma Raducanu, the 18-year old British teenager, and Leylah Fernandez, the 19-year old teenager from Canada . With two teenagers in the battle for the championship, it was already history in the making. Raducanu won in straight sets as the first qualifier to win the US Open, be it in men’s or women’s draw.
Russian Roulette:
Tennis pundits predicted the top 4 seeds in the Men’s draw to reach the semi-finals in the Open, but teenage Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz crashed the party by taking down the 3rd seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in 5 sets in the 3rd round which paved the way for another young Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semis. So, it was Auger-Aliassime vs. Medvedev and Djokovic vs Zverev for the final 4 of the tournament. The gravity of the situation was so lopsided that the odds were heavily tilted towards favoring another major for the top seeded Serbian. Daniil stunned the tennis world by pulling off an upset and snapped Novak’s streak in major finals and denied history as he stood tall between Novak’s calendar slam and an ever-growing contentious “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time) debate among tennis fans. In this process, Medvedev ended his own losing streak in major finals (0-2) and finished with a surprisingly straight set win (6-4,6-4,6-4) over Djokovic to secure his maiden grand slam title.
On a lighter note, Medvedev’s celebration was epic in an uncanny fashion for title winners by falling flat to the ground which established a legend for himself. The US Open has been trending to crown new champions in the past 2 years – Dominic Thiem in 2020 and Daniil Medvedev this year which brings more excitement to the game and tennis fans as most fear about the void that’d soon be created after Roger and Rafa’s careers’ are through. But I like where this sport is heading with several next generation players challenging the big 3, and I can’t wait for the next grand-slam season to begin in January with a potential return to prime for Roger and Rafa, fueling another GOAT debate!
