US Open Recap

The US Open ended earlier this evening when Stan Wawrinka upset Novak Djokovic in four sets, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. It was a kind of a weird match as Djokovic came out and thoroughly dominated the early part of the first set and looked on his way to an easy first set win, when all of a sudden Wawrinka found his game and got back in the set, forcing a tiebreaker. But Djokovic regained his composure and held Wawrinka to just one point to win the set. A pattern began to emerge in the second set and that carried over into the third as well. Wawrinka would struggle mightily to hold and then break Djokovic to take an early lead in the set. Djokovic would have multiple chances to get the break back but could never seem to convert. But eventually he finally does and gets the set back on serve only to trade even more breaks before being broken again to lose the set. The pattern continued into the fourth set, but this time it was clear that Djokovic was cramping when Wawrinka went up 3-0. Djokovic held his serve and then called a bogus medical timeout to have “blisters” on his toes attended to and was able to rehydrate and refuel during the 6 minute break. Novak called the trainer again for the same “injury” when Wawrinka was getting ready to serve for the match. But despite numerous break opportunities, Djokovic could not get the break back and Wawrinka finally held his serve to win the match.  Djokovic will be bitterly disappointed by this loss. Besides being a weird match, it was also a weird tournament for Novak. He had one match that was defaulted and one match where his opponent retired in the first set. He clearly was not at his best and you could see he had a fitness problem even in his semifinal win against Gael Monfils. But he had so many break opportunities in this match that he was not able to convert – he was an abysmal 3 for 17. He will definitely look at this as one that got away.

In the women’s final, Angelique Kerber beat the surprise of the tournament, Karolina Pliskova, who upset Serena Williams, to win the title in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. As might be expected from someone in their first Grand Slam final, Pliskova had a nervous start and Kerber was able to get ahead early and take the first set 6-3. But Pliskova settled down and found her game and began to overpower Kerber in the second, and Kerber’s patented forehand down the line seemed to desert her. Pliskova got an early break in the third and looked to be in control. But Kerber got her forehand in gear again and played her usual strong defense, getting enough balls back to force Pliskova to win the points. Eventually, Pliskova could just not handle the pressure, giving the break back and then getting broken again at 4-5 to lose the match.

Kerber finishes an incredible season where she won the Australian and US Opens and reached the finals at Wimbledon. And she has now supplanted Serena Williams as the number one player in the world. All this from someone who just a year ago felt she had lost her game and was totally adrift. She brought back her old coach and got a boost of confidence from Steffi Graf and then had one of the great seasons in tennis.

You have to wonder if this year in tennis represents the changing of the guard. For the first time since 2004, neither Roger Federer nor Andy Murray nor Rafa Nadal reached the semifinal of a major here at the US Open. Novak Djokovic looked like he might be on his way to the calendar Grand Slam when he completed the career Grand Slam by winning the French. But he clearly could not maintain his level and was beaten by lesser players at Wimbledon, the Olympics, and here at the Open. He just does not look like the dominant player he was earlier in the year. He clearly has a physical problem or problems but he is also 29 now and the grind of the grueling schedule in tennis may finally be wearing him down. On the women’s side, it looks like there are more and more women who step onto the court thinking they can really beat Serena Williams. Serena lost in the finals of the Australian and the French, won Wimbledon, had a shocking early loss at the Olympics, and was overpowered by Pliskova at the US Open. That is hardly a bad year, but it is not the dominant Serena we are used to seeing. And like Djokovic, she was also clearly battling injuries. But Serena is 34 now and the injuries take a little longer to heal and she is just that half a step slower.

It all makes for a fascinating season next year. It will be interesting to see if the old-timers can regain their mojo and keep on dominating the tour like they have for nearly the last decade and a half. Or will the new young guns, and there are plenty of them, finally be able to assert themselves. Sadly, we will probably have to wait for the year-end championships and the Australian Open to begin to find out.