Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week.
The U.S. Open has finished, with Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner emerging as the singles champions. Elsewhere, the impact of the Olympics, the importance of nerves and a tale of two Emmas as Grand Slam tournaments take a break until 2025.
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How did the Olympics make for an even odder U.S. Open?
The U.S. Open is always the least predictable major, with no man or woman dominating in New York over the last decade. Its position in the calendar means that when they arrive, players are feeling the effects of the three other majors and all the other tournaments.
In her press conference after the women’s final, runner-up Jessica Pegula said, “Everything is kind of falling apart.
“A lot of girls are like that. The doctors and the physios are very busy here.”
This year, things felt even crazier, with the 2024 Paris Olympics held after Wimbledon playing a huge part. The additional tennis, plus the unfamiliar transition from grass to clay to hard courts meant that players came to New York more tired and less prepared for the surface than they might be ordinarily.
Carlos Alcaraz exited the U.S. Open early in a flat performance against Botic van de Zandschulp. (Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, the men’s gold and silver medallists in Paris, were among those to tumble out uncharacteristically early, whereas winners Sinner and Sabalenka skipped the Games. Their victories made it six different winners in the last six events for the men, and nine out of the last 10 for the women.
Adding the Olympics to an already crammed schedule has compounded the mental and physical fatigue that most players feel at this time of year.
GO DEEPER
‘I didn’t know if I could play’ – Why Wimbledon’s biggest subplot is injuries
Charlie Eccleshare
A tale of two Emmas?
The sport moves fast.
Three years ago, the U.S. Open was all about Emma Raducanu. Three years later, there’s another Emma on the scene.
Emma Navarro, 23, has broken into the top 10 with a game not dissimilar from the scrambling power baseline brand of tennis that Raducanu rode to her stunning title from qualifying.
Since that victory in 2021, Raducanu has battled injuries, exhaustion and the spotlight. The 21-year-old skipped hard court tournaments — for which she would have had to go through qualifying — before playing the U.S. Open, arriving with little match practice on hard courts. She lost in the first round after drawing fellow former Grand Slam champion Sofia Kenin. A week later the other Emma was the talk of the tournament.
Emma Navarro’s run to the semifinals was one of the stories of the tournament. (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)
They share a name but their vastly different results seem like less of a coincidence. One Emma played a succession of lower-tier events late last year to improve her ranking and develop match toughness. The other has chosen to limit her play mostly to the biggest events after her recovery from double wrist surgery, protecting herself from future problems but limiting her chances to develop a rhythm.
Raducanu is No. 72, mostly on the strength of her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon. Navarro is No. 8.
GO DEEPER
Win or lose, Emma Navarro wants to hit one more ball
Matt Futterman
A Brit reflects on the U.S. Open state of mind
For this English reporter, a recurring thought the past fortnight has been: “Can you imagine this happening at Wimbledon?”
Having grown up going to that tournament, it’s a natural reference point for any tennis event.
While the contrast between the genteel garden party in southwest London suburbia and the extravaganza in Flushing Meadows has been well documented, it is still striking to see it up close.
Celebrities on the big screens, music blaring out at changeovers, chatter during points, light shows, players being asked to smash balls into the crowd at the end of matches, security staff hyping up fans by asking “Are you ready for some tennis?!” Kids run down to get signatures from their favourite players on their oversized balls with — perhaps too much — abandon.
The often raucous atmosphere at the U.S. Open complemented the vibes on-court. (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)
Wimbledon, fabled for its traditions like the all-white clothing rule, has modernised but it’s still a world away from these kinds of innovations.
The food court, which includes pop-ups from restaurants in the city makes the tennis centre feel like an (imperfect) reflection of New York, in which the local food cultures of Flushing and Queens could be better represented.
When you enter the grounds, a song like “You Make My Dreams” is playing, and it feels like the start of a movie. For the week before the tournament starts, entry is free, and thousands of people come through the gates just to enjoy the vibe. They might watch a bit of the qualifying competition or glance at a big-name player practising on one of the show courts, but really it’s just about having a fun day out. The music is blaring, the sun’s out, the Honey Deuces are flowing.
This isn’t to suggest that the U.S. Open is some kind of tennis utopia. Ground passes are expensive at $137 (£104), even though they include access to all courts other than Arthur Ashe Stadium, and this gargantuan event has drawn criticism for the lack of benefits that its immediate surroundings receive from the tournament.
The two events are so different they almost don’t bear comparison, and both are special in their own ways. But it’s hard not to feel energised at an event that feels like a non-stop party.
GO DEEPER
How the U.S. Open’s jumbo tennis ball became a cute, yellow harbinger of doom
Charlie Eccleshare
Are two of the best women’s players approaching a crossroads?
Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff are two of the best players in the world. Both appear to be at an inflection point in their careers — namely, how to sustain their excellence.
After losing to Navarro in the fourth round in a Grand Slam for the second time this summer (and serving 19 double faults), Gauff made it very clear that she knows she has a larger problem. Her serve is broken. Her forehand is unstable. The strategy that Brad Gilbert gave her to cover up those weaknesses isn’t working. She needs to fix them.
“I don’t want to lose matches like this anymore,” Gauff said after crashing out of the U.S. Open.
Swiatek, the world No. 1, may need a less drastic tactical shift. Once upon a time, she could spin the ball as well as anyone. She feathered drop shots and sliced backhands as much as she swatted that scary forehand, before jettisoning most of that to become the most frightening baseline player in the world and dominating women’s tennis.
Iga Swiatek exited to eventual finalist Jessica Pegula in New York. (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)
She is still the best player in the world but her most recent losses — and even tighter wins — have started to follow a pattern, especially in Grand Slams. An opponent either plays way above their normal level or starts to come back into a match that Swiatek is winning. The balls that were coming back invitingly short are now arriving deeper — but her response has been to keep hammering them. She starts to miss, momentum turns, and she doesn’t arrest the slide.
A player of Swiatek’s varied talents could get creative and go to Plan B with those spins and drop shots that she can (or could) play like few others on the tour.
Instead, she keeps doing the same thing, expecting a different result and making herself miserable in the process.
Her biggest rival, Sabalenka, used new tools to get through a tight semifinal against Navarro and to disarm Pegula in the final. Swiatek may look to this if she wants to remain at the top of women’s tennis, where she still indisputably belongs.
GO DEEPER
Iga Swiatek’s 100 weeks as world No 1: The streak, the slams, the bagels
Matt Futterman
What is the right level of nerves for a tennis player at a Grand Slam?
In Friday’s press conferences, both defeated men’s semifinalists spoke of how nerves, rather than physical injury, caused their bodies to fail them.
British No. 25 seed Jack Draper spoke openly about the anxiety that led to his nausea and vomiting on-court against Sinner, before American No. 20 seed Frances Tiafoe said that his late collapse against compatriot Taylor Fritz happened because “nerves got the better” of him.
GO DEEPER
Britain wants Jack Draper to be its tennis hero, but he’s feeling himself in New York
On the flip side, Pegula said the previous night that the schooling she received from Karolina Muchova for a set and three games was because she hadn’t been feeling nervous enough.
“It was weird,” she said.
“Before the match with Iga, I was way more nervous. Today I was just, like, ‘Whatever’. Maybe that was bad, because I clearly came out super flat.”
The ‘right’ level of nervousness is different for every player, with even the great Djokovic admitting to worries before matches. Alcaraz struggled badly before his first Wimbledon final last year but eventually got his nerves under control. Nerves are not necessarily a negative, as long as they don’t become all-consuming.
Experience tends to help with this sort of thing but having a level of nervousness that doesn’t lead to a shaky performance — without going too far the other way — is the balancing act that defines most athletes and performers. As men’s tennis opens up a little with the end of the ‘Big Three’ era, there will be more players going deep in Grand Slams for the first time, learning how to perform this act on the job.
Charlie Eccleshare
How lucky is tennis to have Muchova?
For anyone who thought that artistry was leaving the women’s game, the U.S. Open offered up Muchova.
Czech Republic’s world No. 53 battled potentially career-ending wrist problems this year. She returned this summer, with all the fluidity, touch and power that took her to the French Open final in 2023 and made her a U.S. Open semifinalist in the same year.
At this year’s U.S. Open, She had Pegula laughing at some of the cut volleys and perfectly lofted lobs she showed off in their semifinal. She floats into the net at will, her shoes barely making a sound as they move across the court. It’s something to behold. Tennis fans can only hope she stays healthy and that everyone gets to behold some more.
Karolina Muchova’s all-court style took her to the U.S. Open semifinals. (Pamela Smith / Associated Press)
Matt Futterman
Recommended reading:
🏆 The winners of the week
🎾 ATP:
🏆Jannik Sinner (1) def. Taylor Fritz (12) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to win the U.S. Open in New York City. It is the Italian’s second Grand Slam title.
🎾 WTA:
🏆 Aryna Sabalenka (2) def. Jessica Pegula (6) 7-5, 7-5 to win the U.S. Open in New York City. It is the Belarusian’s third Grand Slam singles title.
📈📉 On the rise / Down the line
📈 Alexander Zverev moves up two places from world No. 4 to No. 2 after reaching the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.
📈 Jessica Pegula rises three spots from No. 6 to No. 3 after reaching the final of the U.S. Open.
📈 Emma Navarro jumps into the top 10 for the first time, going from No. 12 to No. 8.
📉 Coco Gauff, defending champion at the U.S. Open, falls three places from No. 3 to No. 6 after losing in the fourth round.
📉 Novak Djokovic, defending champion at the U.S. Open, drops from No. 2 to No. 4 after losing in the third round.
📉 Thiago Seyboth Wild tumbles 30 spots from No. 68 to No. 98.
📅 Coming up
🎾 ITF
📍Various locations: Davis Cup group stages featuring Djokovic, Alcaraz, Draper, Tomas Machac.
📺 National broadcasters
🎾 WTA
📍Guadalajara, Mexico: Guadalajara Open (500) featuring Jelena Ostapenko, Danielle Collins, Victoria Azarenka, Ashlyn Krueger.
📍Monastir, Tunisia: Jasmin Open (250) featuring Elise Mertens, Eva Lys, Diane Parry, Anna Blinkova.
📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S: Tennis Channel
Tell us what you have been noticing in the comments below.
(Top photo: Seth Wenig / Associated Press; design: Eamonn Dalton)
