FINAL SETS, IMMORTAL GLORIES: THE CLIMAX OF THE US OPEN

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                                                                           Writer: Yerelyn Cortez Hidalgo

Sunday, August 31, 2025

A Day of Valor, Comebacks and Memorable Moments

It was the eighth day of the tournament, and it included high-stakes fourth-round (round 16) matches in both men's and women's singles, doubles, and junior rounds. Far less a sporting field than a great platform upon which legends settled their heads, on which underdogs raised their names, and which, on one occasion, when Barbora Krejcikova miraculously escaped eight match points, became myth. In this case, each rally bore the beat of a city that demands tennis to be theatre, fashion, endurance, and art.

Emerging Stars & Proven Quality

Second seed and one of the most promising young champions in tennis, Carlos Alcaraz, resumed his perfect series in the draw. He sent Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(7-3), 6-3, 6-4, to the quarterfinals, without losing a set. He held himself together, particularly in that nervous opening-set tiebreak, and that is why he will be a Grand Slam king someday.

Novak Djokovic stretched his legendary physique not too far behind. He swept qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, and secured a place in the final eight, reminding the world that when it counts, he is still the gold standard.

Underdogs & Emotional Mass

The 20th seed Jurgen Lehecka reached his best run in the Grand Slam. Lehecka won the close fourth set battle over Adrian Mannarino 7-6(4), 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to punch his first ticket to the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Jessica Pegula brought smooth power on the female side. She is not only back but even better than ever in just 54 minutes; she destroyed Ann Li 6-1, 6-2.

Mood Swings and Heart-Wrenching Close Calls

Barbora Krejcikova made a Heraclitean effort in what will become one of the most emotional situations of the day. Trailing 1-6 in the first set and with eight match points ahead in an exhausting second-set tiebreak that lasted 25 minutes, she scratched her way back to beat Taylor Townsend, 1-6, 7-6 (13-11), 6-3. Her weeping of triumph was eloquent--this was not victory--this was resurrection.

Marketa Vondrousova chased away any sceptics with a solid match and victory of 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 over Elena Rybakina and stamping into the quarterfinals. The defending champion and top seed Aryna Sabalenka did what champions do: she sent Cristina Bucsa home 6-1, 6-4 in sterilized style, continuing her title defense.

Sunday was not a matter of statistics--it was spirit. It was the sharp strokes of Alcaraz, the steadfastness of Djokovic, the emotional revival of Krejcikova, and the quiet stubbornness of Vondrousova. It was Jessica Pegula, who had been waiting and attending to Lehecka, who had gone against tradition, and Sabalenka, the queen of the court.

And thus the night shut its doors on Flushing Meadows, and the stadium lights gleamed like constellations above a city that never claps its hands. The swing of a racket moved heroes forward, broke hearts, and changed destinies. If Sunday was the crescendo, should the first week have been the overture? I started thinking that in this town, tennis is never a match, or is it always theatre in disguise?

Monday, September 1, 2025

SECOND ACTS, NEW Narratives: LABOR DAY At the US OPEN

By the second week of the US Open, New York starts to take tennis less as a sport and more as an opera. We are past the overture; the second acts, the dramatic twists, the characters who rewrite liberal scripts beneath the city lights are left behind. And on Labor Day Monday, the stage was cleared to receive revelations.

Naomi Osaka did not re-enter Arthur Ashe Stadium as a comeback, but as a headliner reclaiming her marquee. She was steady and sharp, even fashionable in her restraint, against Coco Gauff, 6-3, 6-2, a win not so much about performance as presence. Raw in loss, Gauff confessed later that she did break down. With tennis, as with life, occasionally the cracks are as much a part of the victories.

On the next runway to the women's draw, Iga Swiatek exhibited another takeover of control. Her 6-3, 6-1 victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova was crisp, graceful, and clinical--the sort of performance that is less athletic than it is stylistic. It feels as though Swiatek is sketching a skyline: each line is sharp, and there is no empty space.

The men, in the meantime, trafficked in high drama. Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Andrey Rublev, a victory that brought him even further into the Slam story than many supposed. The fashionable exports of Italy, Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti, wrote their names into the quarterfinal script, too, their paths climbing like an espresso shot on a late New York morning.

And then there was Venus. Now aged 45, and diverted by Leylah Fernandez, she moved through the doubles draw with the same refinement that once characterized her supremacy. In case Osaka became the comeback and Swiatek the blueprint, Venus was the promissor: the story is sometimes longevity itself. It was the Chrysler Building at sunset when you watched her walk into the quarterfinals, ageless, and still brilliant in the light.

Monday was not the end, it was the pivot, the page rotation that will redefine the way the rest of the story will be read. And in New York no one ever leaves out the middle chapters. Which made me wonder -- in this city is tennis ever simply a match, or is it always another tale to be told?

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

THIRD ACT UNFOLDS: TUESDAY AT THE US OPEN

By Tuesday, the US Open was no longer trying to find its rhythm, but was about getting into the spotlight. The cast was reduced, the stage was cleaner, and all rallies seemed like a line delivered in a play that New York has been waiting the whole year to watch.

Still untouchable, Carlos Alcaraz swept by Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Not triumph, but choreography--as though the points had been drilled, his acting had become as predictable as that of a leading man who has the lines by heart.

At thirty-eight years old, Novak Djokovic can help the reader remember that history can be twisted, even stopped, in the correct hands. On this occasion, he defeated Taylor Fritz in four sets, becoming the oldest man in the Open Era to make it to the semifinals of all four majors in one year. He did not simply play tennis, he stopped the clock-- and in New York, that is the biggest thing of all.

Jessica Pegula did not hurry; her defeat of Barbora Krejcikova (6-3, 6-3) was more drafting than fighting. Aryna Sabalenka prevailed around the draw, without hitting a ball, without a ball being returned when Marketa Vondrousova pulled out. The US Open has a way of making drama even without it.

And then there was Venus. This time she did not pursue titles, but simply provided us with a bit of entertainment at the expense of Serena on why she did not play her doubles game. It was gaggy, all New York, all familiar, and all in family: even legends are drawn into sisterly innuendo in the glare of Arthur Ashe.

Monday being the chapter turn, Tuesday the spotlight-rise,--and I had to ask myself--in this city is tennis ever simply played, or is it ever in rehearsal to play its next scene?

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

FINALE IN FRAME: WEDNESDAY AT THE US OPEN

By the 11th day, the US Open was no longer a tournament; it was New York turned into its favorite kind of drama: multilayered, capricious, and impossible to take your eyes off. The prelude was over, the light had elevated, and now the characters were becoming clear in the outline. 

What now remained was anticipation--the city on its toes, relishing the anticipation as much as the consummation. Amanda Anisimova took her time as though it were long overdue that the curtain should be lifted. Giving her first volley to Iga Swiatek, the world No. 2, she was not hesitant or shy - she was rebellious, beating her straight through sets, 6-4, 6-3. That win made her the first American woman in years, since the Williams sisters, to make Grand Slam semifinals on all three surfaces. Not just a win -- an arrival.  

The marathon of the day was Felix Auger-Aliassime, a four-hour battle with Alex de Minaur that was decided with a 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) match. It was attrition, all right, but it was also artistry--blood had become narrative and every point had to be fought over, like a line in a play that had to be uttered with just the right accent. Naomi Osaka, who was already the comeback girl of the week, demonstrated that her name is worth being mentioned again. Her 6-4, 7-6 (3) win over Karolina Muchova gave her her first semifinal win in New York since 2018. To watch her was to watch a symbol on a runway she had once owned--the time was too good, the clap was inevitable. 

And Jannik Sinner treated fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the same way: 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. His play was hewn, and trimmed, and practical--not so much fireworks, more architecture. If the others were dramatists, he was the ornament. It was Wednesday, but not the end, the premonstration before the bellowing, the silence before the concert of the great city came to its final chord. And I was questioned, here in this city, whether tennis was always a perfect performance, or always the very next discovery?