My U.S. Open top 10

New York nights with Aryna Sabalenka and the US Open trophy. pic.twitter.com/qbhOjnHNFS

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) September 8, 2024

 Here are my top 10 U.S. Open occurrences, in ascending order:

10: Everything is relative: I always think that it can't get any worse than Tennis Channel, but then I'm forced to watch and listen to ESPN. Just like on Tennis Channel, the commentators on ESPN mispronounce the players' names and sometimes say inane things, but they go beyond that, sometimes never shutting up, despite what's happening on the court. They took away the winners' ability to make acceptance speeches by interviewing them instead, and the results were definitely inferior. They also engaged in a kind of emotional pornography, doing tracking shots of the losing players' long exit from the court. This practice reached its peak when--right after Aryna Sabalenka lifted the trophy--ESPN showed footage of her multiple off-court racket breaks after she lost the final last year. A commentator even rushed to explain that "we're showing you this because...." Because you have no taste at all.

9. Conspicuous by their absence: Who knows what led to the scheduling, but the U.S. Open and the Paralympic Games were held at the same time, so there was no wheelchair tennis (other than juniors) at the Open this year. This was really unfortunate for both the players and for fans. The Paralympic results were shocking: Defending champion Diede de Groot wound up with two silver medals, while her closest rival, Yui Kamiji, left with two gold medals. de Groot's doubles partner, Aniek van Koot, won the bronze medal in singles.

8. The rise of Ruse: Ever major has a breakout player, and at the U.S. Open, it was Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania. Ranked 122 in the world, Ruse made it to the third round, and it was hard not to notice her. In the second round, she upset 8th seed and Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova. Krejcikova had withdrawn from Cincinnati (to my great dismay) because of an injury, and I'm sure she wasn't at her best in New York, but it was still an impressive win for Ruse. The Romanian player then went on to take a set off of 26th seed Paula Badosa before falling to the Spaniard in three sets.

7. Farewell to Flushing Meadows: Danielle Collins, sadly, lost in the first round. It was her last U.S. Open, and I was hoping  that she'd be around in the second week; in fact, I expected her to be. Collins withdrew from Cincinnati because of injury, so perhaps it wasn't as surprising as it seemed that she made an early exit. It would have been nice, though, to have her extend her stay in New York. 

6. "Upset" is just a word: When world number 1 Iga Swiatek won the U.S. Open in 2022, she reached the final by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. Last month, she lost to Sabalenka in straight sets in the Cincinnati semifinals. At the U.S. Open, Sabalenka didn't have to concern herself with taking out Swiatek--Jessica Pegula did it for her, in straight sets in the quarterfinals. Players who hit the ball really hard and play really aggressively are problematic for Swiatek (e.a., she has yet to defeat Alona Ostapenko), yet the world number 1 seemingly hasn't learned how to create the time that she needs to counter such players.

Karolina Muchova hits the SHOT OF THE YEAR at the US Open.

Behind the back lob.

It’s almost a joke how talented this woman is.

pic.twitter.com/ORsmFvpN2N

— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 27, 2024

5. New York is an art capital: And there was an artist on the court throughout most of the tournament. Karolina Muchova, the chronically injured, extremely gifted and stunningly athletic Czech player, made it to the semifinals last year during one of her rare spans of good health (she also reached the final of the French Open). But then she had wrist surgery and was out for months, returning this summer to play a few matches. The thought that she would defend her semifinal points seemed the stuff of wishful thinking, yet that's exactly what she did. Unfortunately, she did something else, too--Muchova contracted a stomach virus. We can't know for sure, but it's very likely that the illness was what caused her to slow down, sweat profusely, and run out of fuel during her third set against Jessica Pegula in their semifinal match.

4. Breaking the curse: Before coming to New York this year, Jessica Pegula had contested a half dozen major quarterfinals and had lost all of them. But the 6th seed enjoyed an impressive run this summer, winning her second consecutive National Bank Open in Toronto, and playing her way to the final in Cincinnati. Sure enough, the player known as "Ms. Consistency" broke her curse in the flashiest way possible--beating world number 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. She then beat Karolina Muchova in the semifinals, and went on to play a close, high-quality final against Aryna Sabalenka.

3. The scrappiest Fighting Italian of them all?: Sara Errani won an Olympic gold medal in women's doubles this summer. She has won five major doubles titles, she reached the singles final of the French Open in 2012, and she was a member of probably the greatest Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup)  team of all time. And now the 37-year-old Italian has added a new trophy to her collection--she and Andrea Vavassori won the mixed doubles title at the 2024 U.S. Open.

2. Single for doubles: Lyudmyla Kichenok was supposed to get married last week, but the wedding had to be postponed because she and partner Alona Ostapenko just couldn't stop winning. The pair, who were the runners-up in Australia this year, won the doubles championship without dropping a set.

1. Tiger burning bright: Approaching the U.S. Open, Aryna Sabalenka looked unbeatable. On the other hand, Jessica Pegula was unbeatable (she didn't drop a set)--until she reached the final. Sabalenka had beaten Pegula in the Cincinnati final just a week before, which added some drama to an already dramatic match. Pegula was impressive and fought hard, but--after an hour and 53 minutes--the world number 2 defeated the world number 6 7-5, 7-5 and claimed her first U.S. Open singles title. Sabalenka already has two Australian Open titles, one of which she won this year, thus giving her a set of tennis bookends that seal her position as the queen of hard courts.