By Sarah Gilley, Copy Editor
The U.S. Open Tennis Championship, formerly known as the National Championship, is an annual tennis tournament held in Queens, New York. This important tournament follows a strict schedule, starting on the last Monday of every August and lasting for two weeks straight.
The tournament consists of five main championships: men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. This year’s tournament is the 142nd and was held from Aug. 29 to Sep 11.
The whole world is watching this tumultuous tournament; some notable faces include Pitch Perfect actress Rebel Wilson, The Walking Dead star Danai Gurira, supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid, and Marvel stars Anthony Mackie and Zendaya.
The 16 players heading into the finals are the best of the best; they have something to prove not only to themselves but to the people who have supported them throughout their careers. All 16 of these players rank somewhere within the top five in their category.
Every player is seeded in their category, whether that is the women’s singles, mixed doubles, etc. A seed is when a player or a team is given an initial ranking, which is to help if the game or match came down to a draw.
The men’s singles are represented by Casper Rudd and Carlos Alcaraz, and the women’s by Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur where, in the end, Swiatek won.
The men’s doubles category pits Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury against Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski. This match was a good one, and it was won by Ram and Salisbury.
While for the women’s doubles, the Czech Republic girls, Katerina Sinikova and Barbora Krejcikova squared off and defeated Caty McNally and Taylor Townsend.
Lastly, Storm Sanders and John Peers took on and won their match while going up against Kirsten Flipkens and Edouard Roger-Vasselin for mixed doubles.
Now, while some matches went according to how the players were seeded, some did quite the opposite. Ajla Tomljanovic defeated world-renowned American star Serena Williams in the third round, causing the biggest upset.
Like a shot heard around the world, this match was thrilling from start to finish. After being expected to win this match and go all the way to the finals, Williams was eliminated in the third round, ending her tennis career with a loss that could haunt her.
The finals took place over the weekend of Sept. 9 to Sept. 11, and it was a whirlwind of surprises. The most notable event was the men’s singles match.
This match took the world by storm when 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz beat Casper Rudd and became the youngest winner in history. This win is just the beginning for the young superstar; he is expected to continue this winning streak for a while.
The U.S. Open is a tournament that has been around for many years, and each year it continues to raise the stakes for those hoping to get a chance to compete. Here is to next year!
