By Luke Jensen, French Open Doubles Champion
Tennis fans, it’s the holiday season of tennis awesome! What a massive gift the 2024 US Open was with a record 1-million-plus people going through the gates at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. From start to finish, the matches were so good!
My highs, lows, and “buffaloes” of the Open are easy. I was extremely impressed with the Americans — Fritz, Tiafoe, Navarro, and Pegula. What a great run by these talents! Additionally, it was a pleasure watching playmaker Donald Young in his final US Open in mixed doubles with another American super star, Taylor Townsend, reach the finals.
There is a tangible American confidence these days on both the ATP and WTA tours. It is a confidence that was gained through the generations of legendary champions from Budge and “Little Mo” Connelly through to Roddick and Serena. There are so many programs in America producing players, but the bottom line is it takes confidence to carry the torch. The competition is as tough as it’s ever been, but no other country has won more major championships than the United States.
This generation of the red, white, and blue walk with a strut and vision to win like the generations before them. I see it in the intensity with which they practice. With the focus they put in at the gym, and the way they go for it on the big points. There also is a calm confidence evident in players like Pegula, Navarro, and even youngsters like Iva Jovic from California. Jovic reached the second round of the main draw, losing to Alexandrova., but her poise earned a main draw wild card at the Open after winning the girls 18 national championships. The future is star-spangled awesome for American tennis.
My low from the Open was the performance from defending champion Coco Gauff. In the summer of 2023 Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert, had her playing disciplined and consistent tennis. My evaluation is going into the 2024 season, Gauff set the bar higher, and expectations put pressure on the process. With a poor performance against Swiatek, the Gilbert approach began to unravel. By the time Gauff reached New York after competing at the Paris Olympics, she had turned off the Gilbert approach and gone back to a Williams sisters style of playing. The Williams sisters were brilliant in the fearless way they would go for the lines and if they lost that way, they would always say they were just going to go for their shots.
The challenge for Gauff was, even though there are similarities to the Williams sisters in serve, speed, and backhand, her temperament is much different. Watch any Venus or Serena match and you will see a mindset that even if shots were missed it didn’t affect their mindset. However, when Gauff begins to misfire, her body language shows panic and doubt. If you take big chances, you must be calm until the storm passes. I’m sure this is a plateau for Gauff, but unfortunately, firing Gilbert shows walking away from a coach on the Mount Rushmore of the game.
My buffalo from the Open is easy. I’ve been part of the US Open in many ways since 1981, and it was that 1981 experience that turned my life’s purpose into pursuing professional tennis. Watching Stan Smith, Evert, Navratilova, Borg, King, Mac, and all the pros made my focus an easy one. This year, Murphy and I were part of the US Open’s USTA Adaptive Invitational Tournament. The extraordinary inspiration these athletes from around the planet displayed will stay with me for the rest of my days. Seeing individuals overcome obstacles to find joy in our wonderful game and play at a world class level were inspiring. For example, I was amazed when watching Nicolas Basaez (a true legend on YouTube) rip shots from all around the court — with no arms — with a smile on his face no matter if he won or lost the point. Seeing him makes one of my double-faults on break point no big deal.
It’s holiday season, so are you getting fired up for new gear? There are tons of solid deals all over the place. To be honest, Uncle Wilson has put a new Fed frame in my stocking, and I’m excited about hitting winners with it. I’m also a big sneaker freak, so a pair of Ben Shelton’s On’s may be exactly what I need to hit a few more aces going into next year!
Go for the lines this holiday season and you’re never sorry for a net cord winner!
