Anything can happen at the U.S. Open, as evidenced by Novak Djokovic’s shocking first-round loss on Sunday night.
For the past 20-plus years, men’s tennis has served up lots of awe and very few shocks. A handful of players, starting with the Big Three and continuing with the “New Two,” have hogged the majors like children uninterested in sharing their toys. Since the start of 2004, this quintet has won 78 of the 90 Grand Slam tournaments. As a fan, it’s been tough to complain about the top-heavy nature of the game because Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner were and are shriek-inducing athletes with talents that expand your concept of the possible. Still, the thrill of the unexpected is one of sport’s great joys, and there’s something deeply satisfying when an unproven player finds a new gear and rides that form all the way to a major title. I remember being transfixed when Goran Ivanišević won the only major of his career at Wimbledon and scratching my head in bewilderment when Thomas Johansson took home his lone slam at the Australian Open. But the experience of watching an athlete break new ground has become vanishingly rare in the modern men’s game. The U.S. Open has become the only major tennis tournament that regularly meets this need.
