The 2024 U.S. Open was filled with many highs and lows. For the first time since 2002, the Grand Slam season ended with the members of tennis’ Big Three, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, not winning one of the tournaments. Both of the 2023 champions, Djokovic and Coco Gauff, did not make it past the fourth round. With the champions out, two first-time U.S. Open winners, Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner took the stage. Along with the first male tennis player from the U.S., Taylor Fritz, making it to a Grand Slam final since Andy Roddick did in 2009.
At the start of the tournament, my two favorites to win were the 2022 champions, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek. After a shocking upset in round two, Alcaraz lost in straight sets to Botic van de Zandschulp. With one of not only mine, but many peoples’s favorite to win the tournament out, many started to wonder who would end up holding the trophy on Sept. 8. The other favorite and eventual winner, Jannik Sinner, was going through a doping case that became public at the start of the tournament. Many fans did not continue to root for him based on their own views towards the situation.
Other players that had their own breakthrough this year were the U.S.’s Emma Navarro and the United Kingdom’s Jack Draper. Both made it to their first ever Grand Slam semi-final, but they both lost to the eventual winners. Another U.S. player, Frances Tiafoe, also made it to the semi-final after having a tough year filled with losses. Tiafoe had previously made the semi-final in 2022, in which he lost to the eventual winner that year, Alcaraz. With multiple breakthroughs also came multiple upsets. Last year’s champion, Coco Gauff, lost to Navarro in the fourth round. From watching the match, many pointed out her game at the moment and how she needs to fix her serve and mentality during the game. In that match, Gauff totaled 17 double faults which people started pointing out.
Now, with the Grand Slam season’s ending, we tennis fans wait patiently for what is to come next year with the first Slam of the year, the Australian Open. This year’s U.S. Open felt anticlimactic to me, without the Big Three in the finals. However, because of this, it is now beginning to show the start of a new era of tennis.
