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Welcome to the U.S. Open briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.
On day six in New York City, things settled down after 48 shocking hours, with a string of expected results — until night fell, and the debate around tennis video review appeared.
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One regular day of U.S. Open tennis? Will never happen
Followers of the English Premier League might be aware of the social media meme that shows Antonio Conte, the former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager, looking bedraggled during an interview. The subtitle says: “One regular day of Barclays (a former EPL sponsor). That’s all I ask for. Will never happen.”
It speaks to the sense that the league can always be relied upon to provide some sort of drama or headline.
It feels pertinent to this year’s U.S. Open, especially after two of the biggest names in the men’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, exited on consecutive nights to lower-ranked opponents. Those two evenings also incorporated the latest-ever start to a match in the tournament’s history, and very nearly the latest finish.
For a long while on Saturday, though it looked like a regular day of U.S. Open tennis would happen. Or at least a pretty routine one, playing to rankings and expectations.
The day session rattled along, with 10 of the 12 matches finishing in straight sets, and with no major surprises.
The night session had largely passed without major incident too, until the third game of its second match, at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
No. 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia chased down a shot from No. 15 seed Anna Kalinskaya.
Haddad Maia retrieved the ball, and Kalinskaya missed it when trying to hit it back for what would have been a simple winner into open space. She immediately called for a video review for a double bounce, using the review system that was unavailable at the event in Cincinnati almost a fortnight ago, during a similar incident between Jack Draper and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
E quando achávamos que já tínhamos visto tudo… pic.twitter.com/TBXpjNjdZl
— Bola Amarela (@Bola_Amarela) September 1, 2024
Umpire Miriam Bley initially ruled Haddad Maia had played a fair shot, and after a video review her original call stood — despite the footage appearing to show that Haddad Maia had at least hit the ball into the ground, along with the double bounce. So instead of being break point Kalinskaya, it was advantage Haddad Maia. She duly won the game, and Kalinskaya appeared not to recover from the injustice. She ultimately lost the match 6-3, 6-1.
One normal day of the U.S. Open. That’s all I ask for. Will never happen.
GO DEEPER
Why Draper and Auger-Aliassime’s match point should change tennis’ view on video replays
Charlie Eccleshare
What happened to Tommy Paul and Gabriel Diallo?
Tommy Paul is known for his fluid, flowing, all-court game. Other players win more often than the world No. 14, but he plays the sort of tennis that gets compliments from those other players, because of how easy on the eye it can be.
So it was pretty stunning to watch Paul play one of the uglier matches of the 2024 U.S. Open so far. His four-set win over Gabriel Diallo of Canada, at Louis Armstrong Stadium, contained 14 breaks of serve and 13 double faults between the two of them. There were 127 unforced errors, including 50 from Paul against 40 winners. Diallo’s split was 77 to 32. Yikes.
Paul, who pretty much always leans self-deprecation, was at a bit of a loss to explain a match that he described as “probably weird for a lot of people watching”. He tried to keep his head clear, and slow the play down. He leaned hard on his team for direction. “Weird situation,” Paul said. “I mean, the conditions couldn’t have been much better. There was no wind, no sun, playing on a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium.”
When it was finally over, after nearly three-and-a-half hours, Paul barely celebrated, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he approached the net for the handshake. “I was just happy to be done,” he said. “Those matches, they’re not the most fun when you’re on the court, but tonight I’m going to be happier than when I play perfect.”
Yeah, weird.
Matt Futterman
The stories of the first week
As the round-of-16 begins Sunday, the U.S. Open is entering its second week. The business end of things.
The first week of a Grand Slam tournament is like few sporting events, even if the basic elements compare to the biggest ones in just about any such athletic endeavor. There are so many matches that it’s hard to know where to look; surprise results and moments sometimes come sparsely and sometimes all at once.
For this U.S. Open, like Wimbledon seven weeks ago, the first three days were rippling, but never truly came alive. Then came day four, and the exit of Carlos Alcaraz to Botic van de Zandschulp. Twenty-four hours later, Alexei Popyrin was standing on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium with his arms aloft, after knocking out Novak Djokovic. The tournament had come to life.
Here are some of the stories of the first week, in addition to those stunning defeats. Tell us yours in the comments…
James Hansen
Shot of the day
This return 👀
Just like Iga Swiatek drew it up ✍️ pic.twitter.com/r1yrLrZ4md
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2024
U.S. Open men’s draw 2024
U.S. Open women’s draw 2024
(Top photo of Anna Kalinskaya: Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
