Daniel B.
Yelp
I used to watch a lot of tennis growing up because my dad enjoyed watching and one of my sisters played. I was most into tennis in the 90s during the days of Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, and Michael Chang. I also appreciated John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors through highlights and replays at the time. While my dad's interest in tennis never waned, mine did when I moved away. However, I still kept up with the sport on the periphery and recognized and appreciated the dominance of guys like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.
We watched the women too -- Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and Serena and Venus Williams. I think tennis players may be the best athletes among all sports.
This year (2020), my dad and I happened to be together for a good chunk of the US Open so we watched quite a bit together. I probably wouldn't have tuned in if he wasn't around. What a year for me to tune back in. This year's US Open was unique and stood out to me for three big reasons:
1. There were no fans. Like the WWE, the USTA followed the NBA's lead and set up virtual fans in the stands. Still, no sports league/organization has done virtual fans better than the NBA has to date, in my opinion.
2. Favorite and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic, winner of 17 Grand Slam singles titles, got disqualified from the tournament for inadvertently hitting a line judge in the neck with a ball during his fourth-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta. Video: https://youtu.be/XRuu2-VIw5o.
3. The championship match between No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem and No. 5 seed Alexander Zverev was one for the record books. Thiem became the first player in the US Open era, which began in 1968 (from 1881 to 1967, it was the US National Championships), to win after dropping the first two sets.
The final score for Thiem was 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6). Thiem became the first player to win a major final in the US Open from two sets down since Pancho Gonzales in 1949.
The trophy presentation was hard to watch from Zverev's perspective. I could tell the guy was really hurting and understandably so. On the women's side, Naomi Osaka won her second US Open title and third major singles title overall. Congratulations to Dominic and Naomi!