Celia Downes: Absent stars, the U.S. Open becomes stage for fresh faces

To the casual tennis fan, this year’s U.S. Open was unusual at best, uninspiring at worst.

Some of tennis’ biggest names were nowhere to be seen: Venus and Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer. The men’s defending champion, Dominic Thiem, pulled out due to a wrist injury suffered a few months ago.

The men’s and women’s fields still ran deep with talent, but with a Grand Slam tournament like the U.S. Open marquee players are expected to at least show up. All who withdrew from the New York event cited injuries or other medical reasons for their absence — perfectly legitimate, just ill-timed.

Then, one of the most recognizable players of the past couple years, Naomi Osaka, was eliminated early on and cast doubt on the next time she would play. Her tearful explanation reflected the immense pressure she has struggled with since rising to the top of the tennis world.

These factors opened an opportunity, to paraphrase one sports writer, for the kids to run wild. On the women’s side, at least, the U.S. Open became a showcase of the young talent professional tennis has waiting in the wings.

The women’s final featured two teenagers, both unseeded at the tournament and one having to work her way through the qualifying rounds. The last all-teen women’s final was in 1999, and back then both Serena Williams and Martina Hingis were established phenoms.

Emma Raducanu, 18, of Britain, was preparing to attend college. Leylah Fernandez, 19, of Canada, was once told by a teacher to quit the game since she would never become an elite tennis player. Between them they have four ethnic backgrounds, from the Philippines to Romania to China to Ecuador.

Their drive and spirit propelled them past Osaka (Fernandez, round three) and other top seeds and into last Saturday’s final. Raducanu prevailed in straight sets, but really the final was a victory for youth and the sport’s future.

The competitors in the men’s final Sunday were more predictable, but the outcome was satisfyingly far from it.

The match pitted No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic, 34 — the only one out of the big three to stay in the U.S. Open, he was aiming to complete a Grand Slam, or four major tournament victories in a calendar year — and No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev, 25, who lost to Djokovic in February in the title match of the Australian Open.

Djokovic came to New York vowing to work his very hardest to win the title and advance his Grand Slam goals. Instead he was stymied in straight sets by Medvedev, who was understanding of Djokovic’s disappointment but also understandably very pleased to stop him.

And, honestly, it’s hard to be broken up about Djokovic’s loss when he offered an unflinching take during the Tokyo Olympics on Osaka’s loss early on in the singles tournament there.

“Without pressure there is no professional sport,” Djokovic told a reporter at the Olympics, as quoted in a Yahoo Sports article.

He continued, “If you are aiming to be at the top of the game you better start learning how to deal with pressure and how to cope with those moments — on the court but also off the court.”

There’s no denying Djokovic is a great player of this era, and clearly he’s earned that distinction with the way he handles tough scenarios. But his words ring hollow after his U.S. Open loss, especially against an opponent he’s defeated before.

Observing the (comparatively) older generation of tennis stars fall to health issues both physical and psychological, it’s refreshing to witness fresh faces grab the spotlight.

Will it last? Considering that the guest list for Monday’s glamorous Met Gala in New York included not just the Williams sisters and Osaka but also Raducanu and Fernandez, we can safely assume that for now, at least, the stars are all shining with the same brightness.