I’m too excited to try to wax poetic about today’s U.S. Open women’s final, so don’t expect much here. Like all Coco Gauff enthusiasts, I felt queasy when Aryna Sabalenka came out guns blazing in the first set. During the second set, when Gauff broke serve, I messaged my best friend, who’d been a nervous wreck on Gauff’s behalf throughout the tournament, to say “I was listening to Gary Puckett and the Union Gap and if Coco manages to consolidate, I’ll get superstitious and have to continue this until something goes catastrophically awry.”
Suffice it to say, I don’t want to hear “Woman, Woman” again for a very long time. But Gauff, who played with nerves of steel, has her title, and critics who’ve questioned her legitimacy as the next great American champion have some reflecting to do. Her comeback — not just in this match, but this season — is one of the best storylines tennis has given us in recent years. Even Crankenstein, after nearly 10 years of confusedly watching me cry at the conclusion of Slams, stood beside me this evening with tears in her eyes, a moment I won’t soon forget.
… Unless something spectacular happens at tomorrow’s men’s final, I’m unlikely to comment on it. But of course I want Daniil Medvedev, who took out Carlos Alcaraz in the semis, to beat Novak Djokovic, as he did in 2021’s U.S. Open final. On Friday, after Medvedev took the second set 6-1, I wrote to my friend, “Getting breadsticked in front of Charlize Theron would be hard to live with.” The actress, who was in attendance again today, was one of many celebrities in the crowd that night.
“Being breadsticked in front of Charlize Theron is a fetish for some people,” he replied, sounding not unlike Gauff’s new coach Brad Gilbert in his ability to reframe anything in a positive manner.