Congratulations to Aryna Sabalenka for winning the 2024Women's US Open, defeating American Jessica Pegula in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5 and winning her first US Open Grand Slam! As you can see by the scores, it was a hard fought match, but it was the experience Aryna has in regards to toughing out the hard-fought points, along with her strong service game, that put Aryna with the US Open Trophy, which now i paired with her 2024 Grand Slam Australian trophy she won earlier this year!
In the Men's 2024 US Open Final, #1 ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy prevails in straight sets over Taylor Fritz, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 in straight sets for his first US Open title. Fritz had a chance to get back onto the match in the third set, up 5-3, but Jannik fought back, put the pressure on Fritz with his serve and forcing Fritz to make several unforced errors to get the advantage on serve and eventually with the match and the trophy!
Couple of Fun facts: An Italian has been in all four of the Grand Slam finals this season, either Sinner or Jessica Paulini! A good year for the Italians! Both Sinner and Sabalenka won this years Australian and Up Opens, with Carlos Alcaraz taking the French and Wimbledon!
How we got there:
It took less than 90 minutes for #2 ranked Arnya Sabalenka defeated #13th ranked American Emma Navarro in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6, for her fourth straight semi-final win! Aryna's serve was just dominant and just covered the court so well defensively! Aryna's average forehand return, clocking in at 123MPH, is the highest of all players, male or female! On to her 2nd final she goes.
Sixth-ranked American, Jessica Pegula, a New York native, struggled early in the first set, getting shelled at the net by unranked Karolina Muchova, and lost that first set, 1-6. Pegula regrouped though, and basically took charge of the match, winning the last two sets 6-4, 6-2 to win the match and advance to the final, her first US Open final.
On a very muggy, humid day, major underdog Jack Draper, ranked 25th, playing his first major semi-final, faced off against number one ranked Jannik Sinner, and Draper dropped his first set of this US Open, 5-7. Note: If you watched this match, Draper's coach is a constant voice, almost as much as the commentators! Also, both players are hitting the towels hard as they are dripping sweat! Second set has been a marathon, and poor Jack has hurled twice already. At 4-4, on an amazing volley, Sinner slipped in the back of the court, bracing the crash on his left hand. Sinner is okay, but Draper hurls for a third time, and loses the 2nd set, 7-6 (7-3 tie-breaker). With Draper obviously feeling the affects of the humidity, he seemed to lose the energy to cover the court, and eventually Sinner wins the set, 6-2 and the match to reach his first US Open final.
The weather was much better for the evening last semi-final match, and it was an epic battle between the last two Americans on the Men's side, as Francis Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz faced off in what turned into an epic five-set match. Both players brought their best games, trading set wins, but after Tiafoe double-faulted TWICE with one game away from victory, it seemed Tiafoe had hit either a mental or physical wall, as he eventually lost that set, the final set, he had nothing in the tank, losing it, 1-6. Fritz moves on to the Finals to play Sinner on Sunday, winning the match, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
And so thats a wrap on the 2024 tennis "season". The quote marks are for the tourneys that are played outside the regular season. Here are the men's rankings after the US Open, with the arrows showing who moved up and down in the rankings. I could not find an accurate graph for the ladies, but Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka are 1 and/or 2, depending on the sources you read.
And one final pic of Jannik with his most ardent fans after US Open win- these guys follow Yannik to almost every tourney!
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