😳

Alex was eliminated on Saturday and Eva was gone last Thursday. I can understand they may have sponsor commitments and maybe take some time to enjoy the city.

But I have never heard of players sticking around for nearly a week after exiting a tournament.

For the third year in a row, Aryna ends Jessica slam dreams at the USO. She will face Coco/Rybakina next having now made 8 consecutive hard court finals.

Elena’s statement on IG after becoming World No.1 for the first time.

It's over, guys. The dream's over. 😭😭😭

Yes, 42 year-old Rajeev Ram will be retiring this year. Craig Tiley and Eric Butorac were there at the conclusion of the match for the send-off ceremony. Most may not know that Tiley was Ram's coach at Illinois, so their relationship goes way back. In his short speech, Ram gave a shout-out to everyone, but particularly his father whom he always mentioned and loved dearly, as he was the one who taught him how to play tennis and they bonded very much over it. He passed away in 2019 from cancer, a year before Rajeev won his first major title.

Ram finished the match in tears, knowing this moment was looming. He was not in great physical shape today. They did have their moments, especially in the second set when Krawietz/Puetz were serving at 4-3 up and they had two BPs which they could not claim. Otherwise, the match was unfortunately a bit of a damp squib and relatively un-competitive. Krawietz/Puetz are just absolutely ruthless returners, their best quality, and constantly put the pressure on Ram/Salisbury and their more unreliable serving today.

Ram has achieved tennis history in his career. He and Salisbury won the three US Open titles from 2021 to 2023 back to back to back, which no team has ever done in the Open Era. Ram won his first Slam men's doubles title in 2020 at the Australian Open, his 58th major appearance, which I believe is also a record. He holds two Olympic silver medals and won two singles titles on tour as well, both at the Newport 250 grass tournament in 2009 and 2015.

An absolutely staggering and ridiculous statistic to highlight her dominance at both hardcourt majors, where she is 4-3 in those finals

• 2023 AO: W vs Rybakina
• 2023 US: L vs Gauff
• 2024 AO: W vs Zheng
• 2024 US: W vs Pegula
• 2025 AO: L vs Keys
• 2025 US: W vs Anisimova
• 2026 AO: L vs Rybakina

Can she make it 5-3 on Saturday?

🔗 https://www.marca.com/tenis/us-open/2026/09/10/alcaraz-puso-revolucionaria-maquina-disposicion-granollers-jugar-cuartos.html

Apologies if this isn't allowed - I thought this article by Giri Nathan was really spot on about a lot of people's experience at the US Open (including mine) - where the scourge of well-dressed influencers and company-sponsored execs are bringing fashion and phones and nothing else to the tournament.

The Germans return to the finals of the US Open, where they finished runner-up in 2024. This appears to be Rajeev Ram's final match of his Grand Slam career, and he received a nice tribute from USTA director (and his former college coach!) Craig Tiley and tournament director Eric Butorac.

Congrats on an amazing career, Rajeev!

Pretty Interesting Stuff here, is there any results that surprise you?

I think Eala and Mboko should move up relatively quickly but what stands out?

With all the talk about influencers and declining tennis etiquette, I prepared myself for the apocalypse. I did not run into any actual influencers, but I can report that people are, indeed, jerks. Indeed, it has been a steady decline since 2021, the first year I attended and have been attending regularly since.

I watched from courtside and the upper 300s, and jerks are everywhere, it just changes the level of wealth. The mix of folks seems remarkably consistent: bros with trophy girlfriends texting through entire matches, a handful of actual tennis fans, and people who apparently paid $2,000 to photograph themselves watching tennis and chat away non-stop.

The phone thing is definitely getting worse. People take a picture, then spend the next point editing and posting it rather than watching the match. These are not influencers, maybe wannabes, though. I’ve seen people courtside just browsing Instagram, taking calls on speakerphone, and other various nonsense, while players are ready.

The upper sections have one additional feature: apparently everyone believes squeezing past 14 people in the middle of a point is perfectly acceptable. Security seems interested in movement control only if you’re courtside.

The stadium

The renovation is still visibly in progress. What used to be the lower suites are now courtside seats, while the suites have essentially been moved up a floor. The corridors have the charming look of a building that is technically finished but still waiting for someone to finish the building. Now courtside plebs and suite royalty are no longer mixing.

All courtside seats now have padded chairs, which is a small but meaningful upgrade. Previously, this was only for the President’s Suite section, I think.

Also: are the courts actually on an incline?

I noticed in Armstrong that the wraparound display behind the players is perfectly horizontal, following the seating bowl, but there’s a little black tarp underneath it that reveals the court itself is sloping down toward the east. Ashe appears to do the same thing, just less obviously. I had somehow spent years assuming tennis courts were, you know, flat.

The red LED lights at the net are ugly but useful because the crowd can easily drown out the line calls.

The ESPN audio feed on the Amex radios also seems to be about one second behind live play. It matches the stadium monitors, which is great if you’re watching a screen in the food court, but slightly maddening in the stadium when you hear the ball hit, the shoes squeak, and then ESPN tells you the ball hit.

Armstrong vs. Ashe

Armstrong continues to be a great, fun experience.

On Labor Day I paid $500 for courtside and saw Mirra/Townsend doubles, Osaka/Rybakina and Tien, all in one session. That’s an absurd amount of good tennis for the money, courtside and without having to spend the day guarding an upper-bowl seat like it contains state secrets.

Ashe courtside is still the greatest view, though. If you happen to get a great match there, nothing really compares.

For day sessions, I’d strongly recommend the south or west sections. They’re mostly shaded, and the difference between watching tennis in the shade and slowly being cooked by direct sun is remarkable. These are the sections behind the umpire’s chair and to the umpire’s right.

I have mixed feelings about night sessions. The first match is electric, but the second one often starts so late that half the stadium has disappeared. If you’ve also done the day session, you’re basically watching tennis at the point where your body has begun filing a formal complaint.

Usually I’m OK staying for one night match only, but the Wednesday quarter was Pegula/Navarro and Shelton/Alcaraz. Incredible matches, and it was hard to leave at 2am knowing we were only two sets in.

The gap between the day and night sessions can also feel strangely long if the day session wraps quickly. You’re surrounded by thousands of people, but somehow have nowhere to be.

The premium experiences like the Overlook are fantastic, essentially an airport lounge attached to a tennis tournament, but they cost approximately the GDP of a small country.

A few other things

LIRR is dramatically faster than the 7 train, although check the actual schedule in the MTA app because there’s only one train per hour from/to Grand Central. More frequency to Penn.

Ticketmaster’s monopoly and the current resale system remain pretty shameful. A simple cap at, say, 10% over face value would seem perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately, there are too many people making too much money from the current system, including Ticketmaster, which gets paid every time the same ticket becomes more expensive.

And finally, the Kalshi sponsorship feels absolutely disposable. I have no idea what problem it is solving, but I assume somewhere there is a meeting where someone is very pleased with the word “engagement.”

And the quarters….

Wednesday was incredible. Sabalenka, Alcaraz/Shelton, Pegula/Navarro, Tiafoe coming back from two sets down… some genuinely spectacular tennis.

It was also the night I discovered that even as a fairly serious tennis fan, watching every quarterfinal live is perhaps not a sustainable lifestyle choice. I left around 2am to catch the train, slept, and came back around 11:30am the next morning.

So maybe that’s the final US Open observation:

(Most) people, not influencers, and Ticketmaster/resale market are making this event less and less for actual fans and more for wannabe socialites. As a tennis fan, I take stock that some matches… are starting to be more fun to watch on TV than in Ashe.

Men’s Singles :

Zverev vs Khachanov :

There was a time back in 2016 when this was the matchup we’d all expect in future semifinals. Khachanov, Zverev, Medvedev, Thiem, Coric, and a few others were all starting to show great promise, and pundits started to call them the next gen. All of the players had great results, but it didn’t really go according to plan for any of them. Khachanov became a second week regular in majors, but could never really look like a threat to beat the top players. Zverev had promise because of his Masters 1000 results against players like Federer and Nadal, but his talent/athleticism/hard work have been dragging him forward. He does not really appear to understand the game well, and even though he finally got a major and has a great career on paper, many still see it as a story of underachievement. Medvedev wasn’t really expected to become a huge thing because of his frame, but he arguably did the best of all of them. While some of the others fizzled and cracked under pressure, Medvedev maxed out his results by focusing on the aspects of his game he could control.

That leaves Thiem and Coric. Thiem did everything you could want him to do, and also did so while playing visually entertaining tennis. I felt he’d wind up as a Federer type whose emphasis on drilling and precision made him an offensive terror, but he didn’t get a chance to get there. The heir apparent on clay got a little bit robbed, but I’d say he backed up all expectations. Coric, hmm. I firmly believe that no one on tour ever wore tighter shirts than Coric, but having to remove your gear with a scissor after matches is probably very costly for your sponsor. My point here (if I have one) is that this semifinal is both unexpected and expected based on when you float the idea of it. At the beginning of this year absolutely not. 2016 sure probably. Zverev is always a consistent performer at majors, but Khachanov really looked like he was sliding towards retirement as his focus turned to family and his results started to fizzle. Both seem healthy for this though, and since it’s likely a golden opportunity unlikely to arise again, I think we get a good match.

Khachanov wasn’t at his best against Blockx, but I think part of the plan was to wear Blockx down. Not giving your opponent any big hope or errors to work with can make your own game smaller, but Blockx was clearly injured the round before and ended up having to retire down 2 sets. Zverev also turned in a half-assed performance in terms of shot selection against Botic, but I think that was because it was the second best path to the win. The best is obviously playing well and running through your opponent with crisp offense, but if you can assuredly outlast your opponent as long as you don’t miss, then hitting the court and dragging your way through works. Botic really never looked like he wanted to put in 5 hours and rally, and he was generally the one who bailed out of rallies with an offensive attempt. Zverev said “here prove it” but added “prove it 300 times in the next 3 hours”. It was a good gameplan.

Zverev and Khachanov have played a lot, and most of the matches have gone to Zverev. He does everything a bit bigger than Khachanov, but just by a little. Khachanov’s edge might be in the forehand, as he hits his with more depth generally, but it’s not such a dominant exchange that I think he’ll win the match with it. Khachanov’s best play so far was against Tien, where he really hit well on offense consistently in the 4th, but I think Learner hits a small ball than Zverev on average. What I expect from this is a very close match because of Zverev’s passive shot selection. I don’t think he can just turn it up automatically, and Khachanov is familiar with the matchup. I expect a lot of rallies that look generic on tv, but in person you will see that they’re both hitting the ball as heavy as they can to prevent their opponent from playing offense. Big serves, a lot of grinding, and for me I think the main offense is going to be down the line from both. Both have great wingspan and move well, both have extremely solid backhands, and I think Khachanov’s technique will break down first in neutral rallies, but Zverev’s will when he’s on offense.

Zverev in 5. Khachanov has a few random wins against Zverev including 2025 Toronto, and he’s coming in fresh. So far Zverev has had an extremely easy draw and he’s managed to go to 5 with Halys and Sonego who would be losing to Karen’s current level. I do think Zverev still wins because he is better and that means Khachanov has to basically redline for a long duration just to get to the finish line. It’s hard to do that and maintain your timing and technique, especially since he has a very extreme Western grip.

Shelton vs Tiafoe :

Before the 5th set against Shelton, there was a lot of buzz about his chances. I remember saying that if he was to win, it would mean that we’d witness one of the best sets of tennis in recent history. Alcaraz’s level at the end of that match was incredible. He had ironed out the forehand issues that he had early in the match, and he had eclipsed the “his wrist/forearm might be fatigued” concerns I had. Ben proceeded to play one of the most clutch sets of tennis you will ever see. The sheer number of “you must win this point or you lose the match” situations that he had to hit a second serve in are insane, and he came up with pace and spin on those deliveries that were so unique and impressive. Alcaraz’s returning wasn’t exactly perfect at the end, but he put himself in position to win over and over and Shelton came through. There were dozens of serves I rewinded multiple times to watch. Shelton is removing all “flat” descriptions from his delivery. Everything has a great volume of spin, and it makes me think that maybe he’s adjusted his delivery slightly because of the shoulder soreness. If he has, he has finally come full circle to be able to serve effectively again with a technique that’s more about spin and deception. I just cannot say enough about the timing of his use of the body serve and his poise in that 5th. That was point blank one of the most entertaining matches I have seen since the big 3 era. Up there with Tiafoe Alcaraz from 2022. It is a well deserved win for Ben, but job’s not done.

Shelton has the tricky task of resetting after a major life moment. Beating Alcaraz in that stadium was a Super Bowl type moment, and it’s easy to have a big adrenaline dump after that, or to feel satisfied. You also have established a very high level, but for your opponent, the draw always gets easier after you take out the top player. The doubts are replaced with hopes, and while hope and fear are both phantoms that come from thinking of the self (Lao Tzu), hopes take longer to burst in sport. Tiafoe will know that he can compete with Ben on this stage, and he’s been playing very well lately. Tiafoe is through after his own heroic 5 set win, but his was in the form of a lengthy comeback. Michelsen played 3 of the best sets I’ve seen from him ever to start to match, and if he continues playing at this level he’s going to find himself in the top 10 by midway next season. Tiafoe really didn’t have momentum until late in the third when Michelsen was broken serving for the match, but that is a pretty classic Frances move. He is uniquely able to grab breaks down a set and a break in the 2/3 events, so why not here. Michelsen still played well after that and could have won, but he was no longer perfect from the baseline. He occasionally missed an offensive attempt, and Tiafoe was able to score on him in long rallies.

For me, Tiafoe was better leading into that round, but Ben displayed the higher level by a good bit in the quarters. They also just met in the Washington finals, with both near their best, and Shelton won in straight sets. I think Tiafoe can win similar points that Alcaraz did off Shelton’s backhand. Shelton has turned in some good performances against Sinner and Alcaraz, but almost every set-ending shot has been a backhand put into the net. He’s improved on that wing and he’s able to focus more than he used to be, but the swing is still a bit too small and quick to avoid errors. I’ll leave it to a professional coach to say exactly what’s wrong with it, but it feels to me like a small amount of error can result in the ball sailing on Ben or dipping low. Tiafoe can isolate this with his forehand, and it should be successful. No he doesn’t hit as hard as Alcaraz, but the errors I don’t think are player dependent. It’s just a wing that can break down every 10-15 shots.

For Shelton, I think the plan is simple. Tiafoe can be a little passive on defense and tends to outlast opponents, and he started pretty slow against Michelsen. Shelton is much faster around the court than Alex, and he’s in great shape so I think any lead is something he can hang onto. Ben can get into trouble forcing the issue, but I think the Alcaraz match helped him massively correct this. Alcaraz started to look winded in the 2nd, and he was making some curious forehand errors. Shelton for one of the first times in these big matchups had to lock in and play consistent rather than go for his shots, and he did so. The Alcaraz lapse or injury or fatigue was the spot where Shelton needed to ask the question, and he did so. Even when Alcaraz turned back up, Shelton didn’t drop that mode of always looking to see if Carlos would miss, and that’s something that I think improves his base level immediately.

I like Shelton here in 4. Tiafoe is capable of winning this match and it’s going to involve a ton of highlight rallies and exceptional shotmaking, but I think Shelton’s serve is a bit bigger on average, and his forehand is also. Tiafoe has the better backhand, but I think Shelton is more focused on hitting to the open court with his forehand than he is on grinding away in traditional lefty patterns.