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When the world literally beats a path to one’s doorstep it’s hard not to possess an outsized amount of pride in one’s home, no matter how dysfunctional and at times dystopian it might otherwise be. Say what you will about Flushing, New York–and you’d be justified to say plenty especially of late–but if your neighborhood had hosted two World’s Fairs and now 50 U.S. Opens (not to mention a few hundred concerts and a coupla thousand sometimes meaningful major league baseball games) you’d be inclined to beat your chest. And when one’s first memories are of those World’s Fairs that were such a big deal that even THE FLINTSTONES dropped by that perverse sense of association grows expontentially.
It’s particularly enhanced when the entire tennis world converges to that venue around Labor Day–the arguable Super Bowl of the sport that has grown to record levels and prices this year. When it relocated from its not-all-that-distant but to me elitist digs at Forest Hills to the park I could walk to where we’d occasionally picnic on the footprint of those World’s Fairs it became a regular destination just before I’d leave for college and for years afterwards. For the price of a couple of movie tickets I’d spend literally an entire day during the third or fourth round roaming the outer courts pivoting from one quality match to the other–eventually winding up in either the venue I once knew as Singer Bowl now renamed Louis Armstrong Stadium (in honor of another pretty impressive gent who lived on the Corona side of Flushing Meadow Park) or the more massive Arthur Ashe Stadium that rose next door to it. These days, the price of that all-day pass will barely cover a Honey Deuce, the signature cocktail that has become all the rage for discriminating global travelers.
It’s grown so much that what has traditionally been a mere fortnight has now exploded into a three-week event that actually kicked off last weekwith a mixed doubles tournament that saw the return of a substantially slimmed-down and rejuventated Serena Williams–a de facto GOAT who actually pulled off a win at age 44 last week along with the top men’s seed Carlos Alcaraz. Not since Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton combined on a duet have we seen a generational combo quite as appealing. And it will undoubtedly only get even better as she teams up with older sister Venus for women’s doubles competition that will further enhance that otherwise secondary competition.
All the better considering the main singles events aren’t quite as broadly appealing as they were back in the days where a Jimmy Connors, a Pete Sampras or a Chris Evert could thrill the huddled masses between the Van Wyck Expressway and the Grand Central Parkway. It’s definitely a transitional time for the game, especially on the men’s side as Alcaraz emerges as the face of the sport with a particularly intriguing storyline, as AM NEW YORK’s Joe Pantorno observed yesterday:
Former World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz will not have an opportunity to simply ease into this edition of the US Open —his first legitimate action since April. The Spaniard was sidelined for four months with a right wrist injury, and with it the abandonment of his perch as the top men’s player in the world. But he remains confident that he can defend his US Open title despite the long lay-off. “I think it is possible,” Alcaraz said. “I think that many people have shown it. [Roger Federer], [Rafael Nadal], many people have shown that you can win a Grand Slam after having been injured for a long time or having had a very hard injury. So we’re going to try and tie ourselves to that belief that we can do it too.”
The problem is that his first-round opponent does not provide the usual cakewalk that many of the world’s elite face in the opening stages of a Grand Slam. Roman Safiullin has slain some giants as of late. At Wimbledon, he downed No. 24 Andrey Rublev and No. 26 Joao Fonseca. He then pushed the legendary Novak Djokovic to four sets in the Round of 16.
OTOH, he won’t have to worry about a couple of his more significant obstacles. IL MESSAGGERO’s Vincenzo Martucci pointed that out last week:
World No. 1, Jannik Sinner, is absent due to inflamed knee ligaments—apparently a post-Wimbledon trauma. After much therapy at JMedical in Turin and even a visit to Juventus’ training ground, he will be out until September 6, perhaps more worried about a repeat of his Roland Garros meltdown than anything else.
And last night the potential circus surrounding the remaining old school Legend was short-circuited in a befitting manner to the tumultuous climate that beset Flushing on the new Sunday night kickoff to the main and now expanded 128-person singles fields. Per THE ATHLETIC’s Matthew Futterman:
Novak Djokovic is out of the U.S. Open after losing in New York in a way he never has before. In a stunning loss that snapped a streak of 77 first-round wins at Grand Slams, Djokovic lost in five sets to Argentina’s Mariano Navone, a top-50 stalwart who has beaten some formidable players but never a true great.
Sunday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, he took down a lethargic and then limping, vomiting and then cramping, roaring and then resigned Djokovic 7-6(5) 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in four hours and 36 minutes. Djokovic last lost a first-round match at a Grand Slam at the 2006 Australian Open, when he was the world No. 76. Since then, he navigated the terrain of major openers as well as anyone, until a harrowing night that left him contemplating his own sporting mortality more closely than ever.
As for the women, it’s an opportunity for names still not as widely known as they should otherwise be to reinforce exactly why that shouldn’t be the case. As Adesina O. Koiki previewed on the tournament’s official site last week:
Believe it or not, there were times that world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam singles champion Aryna Sabalenka thought she might not have what it takes to give the winner’s speech during the trophy ceremony on one of tennis’ four biggest stages.
Of course, that notion is long long gone as Sabalenka not only heads into the 2026 US Open as the two-time defending champion in Flushing, but also ranked as the world’s top-ranked player for a 99th consecutive week. Completing a three-peat in New York would put Sabalenka’s name alongside Serena Williams and Chris Evert as the only women to win three consecutive singles titles at the US Open during the Open Era.
Throw in the growing presence and maturity of top U.S. hope Coco Gauff, and the always-intriguing Jessica Pegula, and it’s more than enough reason for anyone to find their way back to Flushing once again. Even Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty.
Courage…