Post-US Open 2022 Discussion
This was an eventful and satisfying US Open to watch (even if my brackets fell apart miserably). Here are my thoughts after the completion of the tournament:
Men’s Draw
I am ECSTATIC about Carlos Alcaraz winning his first major title and ascending to World #1. I felt like it would take longer for him to win a Grand Slam, but he has shown great feats of endurance to capture this debut slam and I think he is easily the best player in the world right now.
Alcaraz could still use some work on his first serve’s speed and placement, and his return of serve. He would do really well adopting the Djokovic strategy of hitting the ball as deep as possible down the middle. He also just tends to overhit, which he will probably do less and less as he gains more experience.
Casper Ruud will be back. 2 major finals in one year is already an impressive season. He just needs to learn to fight a little bit harder and be a bigger psychological presence than he currently is in finals. I would also like to see him win some ATP 500s and 1000s before a major.
Frances Tiafoe! What a run! He will also be back if he stays healthy. He demonstrated drive that we just hadn’t seen prior to this US Open from him. He should be an interesting variable in future majors.
Karen Khachanov played really well against Nick Kyrgios and I expect him to play better in future majors, but I don’t really have a lot to say about him.
Nick Kyrgios’ last chance to win a major before the young players start really dominating is probably 2023’s Australian Open. He just couldn’t maintain the form he showed against Medvedev (more on him later in this post) to the next Russian he played.
Jannik Sinner was so close to taking down Carlos Alcaraz – he needs to work on his first serve % and cutting back on double faults. Sinner has the second best backhand on tour right now (Djokovic is first) and I expect his backhand vs. Alcaraz’s inside-out forehand to be responsible for some legendary points in the coming years.
Medvedev. What a disappointing run. Bad loss to Kyrgios and no way to execute his game plan. Maybe playing without the pressure of the #1 ranking will be a liberating experience for him.
It may have been smarter for Rafael Nadal to skip this major to recover because that man was not even CLOSE to top form. Although his lateral movement was still quite sharp, he looked a lot slower than usual when going for drop shots. Disappointing run, but as viewers it is probably unfair to expect a miracle run from him after coming off of an injury twice in a year.
Women’s Draw
JAZDA, IGA! Swiatek has had the best season of any WTA player since Serena Williams’ 2015 (that season was MUCH better than this one, though.)
Swiatek’s forehand was shaky and nervous all tournament – when watching her I actually hoped people would hit to her backhand as it was more solid throughout the run and she can still hit impressive angles and winners off of it.
Additionally, let’s address the elephant in Swiatek’s game: her serve. She has effective enough wide serves on both sides and a good kick, but her flat serve is genuinely the worst in the WTA’s top 10. She rarely gets free points or hits aces down the T. Her motion is flawed and she needs to see a technician about it, because it is the one really exploitable weakness in her game right now.
Is it safe to say that Swiatek is the best mover in the WTA right now? Gauff may have more raw speed, but Swiatek moves so well that even her defense becomes aggressive. She extends points that have no business continuing. Her movement and her return were probably her biggest weapons this entire tournament.
Ons Jabeur and Casper Ruud have had similar 2022 seasons. I think Jabeur, like Ruud, will be back for more. She played very well against Garcia; her serve had some pinpoint accuracy when she needed it. She just kind of fell apart in the final and only began to really fight when it was almost over. Losing two back-to-back major finals must be painful for her, but it will only make it more satisfying when she finally has her hands on a trophy.
Caroline Garcia’s father is hampering her game. If you were watching carefully, you probably noticed that when she tried to move back on her returns, her father would roll his eyes and motion for her to move closer in – which is precisely what Jabeur took advantage of to beat her. Her close stance doesn’t work against even moderately big and accurate servers, and it’s enforced by her father. He detracts from her natural talent.
I don’t really have anything to say about Aryna Sabalenka except that I think her biggest and most debilitating weakness is her inability to deal with pressure. She should have made a slam final by now.
Coco Gauff’s forehand is preventing her from winning major titles. If Gauff had even a slightly above average forehand, she would go from being a counter-puncher to being an aggressive baseliner with a huge serve, insane speed, and a pretty good net game. She would basically play like Swiatek if Swiatek could hit first serves at 128 miles per hour. Some work needs to be put into her forehand in the off-season, because it has been an issue for years now and is improving at a snail’s pace.
Jessica Pegula needs to really define a big strength in her game.
Danielle Collins needs to spend the off-season recovering from her injuries, because they hamper an otherwise very fun player to watch. Her backhand is so lethal and powerful, but you don’t get to see it all that often if she double faults eleven times because her injury makes it difficult to execute a serve properly.
I actually think Simona Halep and Emma Raducanu are about to have really good seasons after their first round losses.
Goodbye to the greatest. I will be defending her GOAT status next week.
Thanks for reading.