US Open Recap

ATP

Carota Boy

The last 12 months for the Carota Boy Jannik Sinner on hard courts: 11 events, 7 titles, and a 55-5 record. Davis Cup, Australian Open, and US Open champion. Even a tiger mom would be proud.

While each set in Sunday’s 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory got a little closer in score, you always had the sense that Sinner was going to end up the winner. How’d he do it so convincingly? Two ways:

1. Baseline Dominance: From the back, Fritz couldn’t hang with the Italian. With his booming groundstrokes and speed around the court, Sinner was content to extend rallies, and wait for Taylor to either make an error or cough up a short ball to attack. That plan worked — for points that went beyond 5 shots, Sinner won 36 points (60%), compared to Fritz’ 23.

2. Returning a la Medvedev: In the second set, Jannik started to return from 10 feet beyond the baseline. The extra time allowed him to put more balls in play and extend rallies, which earned him 12 break point opportunities throughout the match (almost double that of Fritz).

By becoming a wall on the baseline and applying maximum pressure on the American’s service games, Sinner made quick work of the final, getting the job done in just 2 hours and 16 minutes. He also joins an elite group of Mats Wilander, Fed and Djokovic as the fourth man to win the Australian and US Open in the same year. 🥕

With the win, Sinner placed a strangle hold on the number one ranking for a while. While Alexander Zverev has pushed passed Alcaraz and Djokovic to assume a career high No. 2 ranking, he is more than 4,000 points behind Jannik, who shows no signs of slowing down.

ps - did you see that post-match smooch with Kalinskaya?

Trivia

The player below holds the record for fewest unforced errors made in a grand slam final. Who is it?

A. Novak Djokovic

B. Simona Halep

C. Pete Sampras

D. Justine Henin

Find out at the bottom!

WTA

Tiger Queen

With her trainer Jason Stacy adorning a temporary tiger tattoo on his head for good luck, Aryna Sabalenka avenged her 2023 US Open final loss and took home her second major of the year.

Sunday’s match against American Jess Pegula was nothing short of a thriller. Whenever it looked like the Belarusian was going to run away with the match, Pegula (and the NYC crowd) would pull her back into a tight contest.

Pegula kept the match competitive with A+ returning. In the first set, 11 of the 23 points that Sabalenka lost on serve were from +1 shots — the first shot after the return. While Aryna hit a ton of winners as well on the +1 ball, Pegula’s consistent returning helped her break in key moments to stay within reach.

Despite returning and defending well, Jess was ultimately overpowered by Sabalenka’s serve and huge groundstrokes. Through the semis, Aryna’s average forehand speed was 80 MPH, faster than that of Carlos Alcaraz (78 MPH), Jannik Sinner (78 MPH), and Novak Djokovic (75 MPH). The highlights are mostly Pegula chasing down balls at a full sprint.

Moving forward, I wonder what tattoo Stacy will get when Aryna inevitably makes her next slam final. Maybe a national symbol in Belarus, the European Bison? 🦬

Shot of the Week

Laser Beam

If Ricky Bobby and Lightning McQueen had a baby, it would be this forehand.

Around the Net

News, Memes and Throwbacks

👀 There’s two ways people watch tennis, the Roger Federer way and the Kevin Hart way. See their different styles and why Kevin Hart watches the way he does.

🏉 Did you know, Jess Pegula’s dad owns the Buffalo Bills? Check out this sweet video of the team wishing Jess good luck ahead of her maiden US Open final.

🎧 What’s it like to step out into Arthur Ashe Stadium packed with 23,000 fans? The guys at Nothing Major will tell you. Nothing Major is a podcast hosted by ex-pros Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, John Isner and Steve Johnson, named after their collective 0 grand slam singles titles.

💸 The ATP launched the Next Gen Expense Support program, which provides financial support for promising players under 20 years old ranked between 101 - 500 in the world.

Answer

B. Simona Halep

Incredibly, Halep only made 3 unforced errors in the 2019 Wimbledon final against Serena Williams. The Romanian took the match 6-2, 6-2.

The Beautiful Game

The Maldives

If I were lost at sea and washed up on this beach, I think I’d make it 😎

If you’ve played somewhere beautiful and have a photo that you’d like to be featured, reply to this email or text it to (425) 463-9820!