NEW YORK — The 2021 US Open is officially in the books, and it ended with titles for Emma Raducanu and Daniil Medvedev. Just as we all predicted, right?
Needless to say, it was one of the most unexpected and surprising tournaments in memory and provided unforgettable introductions to the next generation of tennis superstars.
Here’s what we learned from the year’s final major — and what we can expect from the rest of the 2021 season and beyond.
New era is upon us
Serena Williams wasn’t at the tournament this year. Nor was her sister Venus, or Roger Federer, or Rafael Nadal. But while the US Open was lacking in star power to start, by the end there were plenty of new faces who seem poised to ascend the tennis hierarchy in the next few years.
Sure, Novak Djokovic and his quest for the calendar slam and his 21st major title received nonstop headlines, but it was the rise of a group of talented teenagers that captivated the world.
In addition to eventual surprise champion Raducanu, who was ranked No. 150 in the world and had to come through qualifying to make just the second Grand Slam main draw of her career, 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez was the ultimate giant slayer throughout the fortnight, defeating Naomi Osaka, Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and Aryna Sabalenka en route to the final. And 17-year-old Carlos Alcaraz recorded one of the biggest upsets of the tournament with a five-set victory over No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Coco Gauff, 17, and Caty McNally, 19, the longtime fan favorite duo known collectively as #McCoco, reached their first major final. They eventually lost to Sam Stosur and Zhang Shuai in three sets but furthered cemented their status as one of the top teams to watch — and their friendship and confidence was still on full display despite the disappointing outcome.
“There’s no other person or player that I would rather do this with,” Gauff said. “I know that we’ll be Grand Slam champions eventually.”
Not to mention, the ever-so-slightly-older members of Gen Z represented well for the group, too: Felix Auger-Aliassime, 21, reached his first major semifinals; Jenson Brooksby, 20, gave Djokovic one of his toughest battles of the tournament in the fourth round; and 20-year-old Iga Swiatek became the only woman to reach the Round of 16 at every major this year.
There has been a lot of talk about the future of the sport as its biggest superstars all near the end of their illustrious careers, but it seems safe to say, tennis looks to be in very good hands — and this just might be the event which we will eventually look back on as the start of its next chapter.
Medvedev is the real deal
Not quite Gen Z but still very much a part of tennis’ future, 25-year-old Medvedev became the first player outside of the “Big Four” to crack the top two in the ATP rankings since 2005 earlier this year and had reached two major finals prior to the 2021 US Open, but his ability to win on the sport’s biggest stage, especially with Djokovic in the mix, was firmly in doubt.
Not anymore.
On Sunday, Medvedev and his can’t-miss serve overpowered Djokovic as he made history of his own. Many have wondered who would eventually replace the Djokovic, Federer and Nadal atop the game, and now it seems Medvedev is the leading contender.
While the crowd was undoubtedly in support of Djokovic during the final, Medvedev won over new fans with his FIFA-themed “dead fish” celebration and his hilarious postmatch interview in which he said the victory would have to serve as his anniversary present to his wife because he hadn’t found time to buy anything else.
“The only thing I thought, ‘If I lose, I have no time to find a present.’ So I have to win this match.”
Djokovic was one match away from joining Rod Laver as the only men in the Open era to achieve the calendar slam and winning his fourth major of the 2021 season. But Medvedev played the ultimate spoiler and dashed Djokovic’s dreams for history with a dominant, straight-set victory in front of a stunned Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. As a victory would have also given Djokovic his record-setting 21st major title, breaking a tie with Federer and Nadal, there was much discussion about the win cementing Djokovic’s status as the GOAT.
He didn’t get the win or the milestone in New York, but even Medvedev said he was already convinced of Djokovic’s status.
“I never said this to anybody before but I’ll say it now: For me, you are the greatest tennis player in history,” Medvedev said to Djokovic during the on-court trophy presentation.
Of course, Djokovic remains the No. 1-ranked player in the world and will have several more opportunities for his latest Grand Slam trophy during the 2022 season — starting with the Australian Open, where he is a nine-time champion and will likely remain the favorite to defend his title.
Golden Slams
Much was made about Djokovic’s failed attempt for the Golden Slam when he was unable to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, but two athletes did, in fact, record the elusive feat this year.
Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott both became the first wheelchair athletes in history to win all four majors and Paralympic gold this year. Making it even more impressive, if that’s even possible, there were mere days separating the end of the competition in Tokyo and the beginning of the tournament in New York. Clearly jet lag is nothing for these two.
Incredible.
Two historic Golden Slams were captured today in New York by Diede de Groot & Dylan Alcott. pic.twitter.com/omaoGTyWgw
Alcott, who recorded his 15th career major singles title at the US Open, had an absolutely iconic celebration in front of the crowd on Ashe at the men’s final shortly after his win.
Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett also pulled off the Golden Slam in men’s wheelchair doubles.
Osaka’s tough exit
Osaka, the defending champion, lost to Fernandez in the third round 7-5, 6-7 (2), 4-6 in front of a shocked crowd on Ashe and she was unable to hide her emotions on court or after the match. She threw her racket in frustration in the second set and later slammed it on the ground. When Fernandez forced a deciding set, Osaka left the court for a bathroom break with her head covered in a towel.
She was tearful after the match and admitted tennis was no longer bringing her joy, saying she was considering taking an indefinite break from competition.
“I feel like I’m kind of at this point where I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match,” Osaka said. “I think I’m going to take a break from playing for awhile.”
Her news conference abruptly ended. Osaka, 23, has not further clarified her plans for the rest of the season, but remains on the entry list for next month’s pandemic-delayed BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.
It has been a challenging few months for Osaka, who opened the 2021 season with a title at the Australian Open. She withdrew from the French Open after her first-round win due to controversy surrounding her decision to opt out of her media obligations and then skipped Wimbledon. She was given the honor of lighting the torch during the opening ceremonies at the Olympics in her native Japan but lost in the third round of the competition.
There has been an outpouring of support for Osaka from the tennis community and beyond, and her peers and fans have encouraged her to take her time to get healthy and happy before she makes her return.
Fan support
When the US Open announced it would be allowing 100% capacity for fans, there was some skepticism as to the feasibility of having such massive numbers during the ongoing pandemic, despite a late vaccination requirement being added — for fans that is; players still have no such thing — just days before the event got underway and there being an indoor mask mandate.
However, not only were there no reports of an outbreak linked to the tournament, but the fans did more than their part in impacting matches and cheering on their favorites to victory.
Many players — perhaps most notably Fernandez, Djokovic, Alcaraz and Shelby Rogers during her upset win over top-ranked Ash Barty — were amazed by the crowd and credited them at varying points for their help in securing victories.
“The crowd is next-level this year,” Rogers said on court after her win over Barty. “You’ve picked who you want to win, so thank you for picking me tonight.”
A year after there were no fans in the stands at the tournament, the US Open became the first major to allow a capacity crowd. According to the USTA, there were 631,134 fans in attendance throughout the tournament. While not quite the record-setting numbers of 2019 (737,919), it was still a pretty impressive turnout amid the circumstances.
While it’s impossible to predict what will happen going forward, it was a welcome dose of normalcy after so many months of uncertainty and uncharacteristic silence.
PHILADELPHIA — Mick Abel couldn’t sustain his sublime major league debut and is headed to the minors.
Taijuan Walker is back in Philadelphia’s rotation. And anticipation that prized prospect Andrew Painter could be headed to the Phillies will stretch past the All-Star break.
The Phillies demoted Abel, the rookie right-hander who has struggled since he struck out nine in his major league debut, to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies also recalled reliever Seth Johnson from Lehigh Valley ahead of Friday’s loss to Cincinnati.
The 23-year-old Abel made six starts for the Phillies and went 2-2 with 5.04 ERA with 21 strikeouts and nine walks.
“Mick needed to go down and breathe a little bit,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Just get a little reset. It’s not uncommon.”
A 6-foot-5 right-hander selected 15th overall by the Phillies in the 2020 amateur draft, Abel dazzled against Pittsburgh in May when his nine strikeouts tied a Phillies high for a debut, set by Curt Simmons against the New York Giants on Sept. 28, 1947.
Abel hasn’t pitched beyond the fifth inning in any of his last four starts and was rocked for five runs in 1⅔ innings Wednesday against San Diego.
Abel was 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA last year for Lehigh Valley, walking 78 in 108⅔ innings. He improved to 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA in eight minor league starts this year, walking 19 in 46⅓ innings.
“This guy’s had a really good year,” Thomson said. “His poise, his composure is outstanding. He’s really grown. We just need to get back to that. Just attack the zone and get through adversity.”
The Phillies will give Walker another start in Abel’s place against San Francisco. Walker has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen over the past two seasons. He has made eight starts with 11 relief appearances this season and is 3-5 with one save and a 3.64 ERA.
Thomson had said he wanted to give Walker an extended look in the bullpen. Abel’s struggles instead forced Walker — in the third year of a four-year, $72-million contract — back to the rotation. For now.
“He always considers himself a starter and ultimately wants to start,” Thomson said. “He’ll do anything for the ballclub, because he’s that type of guy, but I think he’s generally happy he’s going to go back into a normal routine, normal for him, anyway.”
Wheeler, Suárez and Sánchez have been lights-out in the rotation this year and helped lead the Phillies into first place in the NL East. Jesús Luzardo was a pleasant early season surprise but has struggled over the past two months and gave up six runs in two-plus innings in Friday’s 9-6 loss to the Reds.
“I still have all the confidence in the world in Luzardo,” Thomson said. “Everybody’s going to have bad outings here and there. I think we’re still fine.”
Thomson said he had not made a final decision on who will be the fifth starter after the All-Star break. Painter has two more scheduled starts in Triple-A before the MLB All-Star break and could earn a spot in the rotation. The 22-year-old will not pitch in the All-Star Futures Game as part of the plan to keep him on a hopeful path to the rotation.
Painter hurt an elbow during spring training in 2023 and had Tommy John surgery later that year. He was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 amateur draft and signed for a $3.9 million bonus.
Because of the All-Star break and a quirk in the schedule that has them off on all five Thursdays in July, the Phillies won’t even need a fifth starter after next week until July 22.
Aaron Nola could be back by August as he works his way back from a rib injury. Nola will spend the All-Star break rehabbing in Florida and needs one or two minor league starts before he can rejoin the rotation.
Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.
CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.
Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.
“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.
Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.
“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”
The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.
Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.
The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.
“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”
Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.
“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”
CLEVELAND — Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas left during the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers due to mild plantar fascia symptoms with his right foot.
Thomas missed 11 games in late May and early June because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is batting .160 this season and .197 (13-for-66) since coming off the injured list on June 9. He does have four homers in his past 10 games.
“We think he’s good. The plantar fasciitis flared up a little bit again and I just didn’t like the way he looked running around the outfield. So rather than take a chance, I got him out of there,” manager Stephen Vogt said after the 2-1 loss to the Tigers.
Thomas also missed five weeks due to a right wrist bone bruise after getting hit by a pitch during the April 8 home opener against the Chicago White Sox.
