This year’s US Open Tennis Championships is one that willforever be written in history. We saw the end of an era,with legend Serena Williams stepping away from professional tennis. We also saw the rise of fantastic young tennis starssuch as nineteen-year-old Carlos Alcaraz who won his first Grand Slam, and twenty-one-year-old Iga Swiatek who became the first Polish woman to win the tournament. Frances Tiafoe became the first American in sixteen years to reach the men’s semifinals. Over the years, there have been many fantastic female tennis players, but none as iconic as Serena Williams. Over her career Williams has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles, and has inspired many , especially minority girls, such as Coco Gauff, to play tennis. Tennis was traditionally a rich, white sport and Williams has helped to change that. This year, at age forty-one, she made it past rounds one and two of the Open, before losing in a close match to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović. Williams lost the first set but made a comeback in the second, edging out Tomljanović in a tiebreaker. However, Williams sadly lost the third set. Throughout the competition we also saw a new star shine, twenty-one year old Iga Swiatek. On September 10, 2022, Swiatek faced Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, where she swiftly won in two sets, becoming the first ever Polish woman to win the US Open. Men’s tennis has been dominated in recent years by the big three: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic, who have repeatedly won major tournaments since 2004. But not this year! Djokovic couldn’t attend the US Open due to issues with vaccination. Federer didn’t play due to his continuing knee issues. Nadal did play; however earlier this year he tore an abdominal muscle, which likely played a factor in his loss in the quarterfinals. Instead we saw that younger players are gaining an edge. They are faster and have more endurance. We saw this when the American Tiafoe beat Spain’s Nadal in the quarter finals. The match wasn’t a quick one though. Nadal put up a fight to win the second set, 6-4; but he couldn’t keep up, and lost the next two sets, ending his winning streak. In the semi finals, Tiafoe lost to an upcoming star, Spain’s Alcaraz. Alcaraz is young and seems to be taking after his idol, Nadal. The US Open was only Alcaraz’s first Grand Slam Tournament. He was unstoppable, and went on to beat twenty- three year old Casper Rudd of Norway, winning the tournament, becoming the youngest player of all time to be ranked number one in men’s tennis.
This championship was truly the end of an era. Not only has Williams retired, but Federer is now following. He will play in the Laver Cup (September 23 to 25) with Nadal for his last match before officially retiring. As Nadal and Djokovic get older, it’s uncertain how long they may keep playing. The next generation of tennis is coming. Alcaraz, Tiafoe, and Swiatek will lead the way.