Fans on the edge of their seats, full-throated screams of jubilation as match points are saved and comebacks are mounted. In the wide-open US Open, matches are tense affairs that can erupt at any minute.
We have already seen a record number of fifth-set tiebreaks (10, tied with 1974 and 2012) at the 2021 US Open, and as of the quarterfinals there have been 32 five-setters, which is just three shy of the all-time record of 35.
So why have there been so many cliffhangers at Flushing Meadows in 2021? Theories abound.
“I didn't know there were 10 comebacks from two sets to love down, because that's huge,” Daniil Medvedev said on Sunday in New York. “That's really huge. Ten is a lot.”
Passionate, rowdy fans always make a difference in New York, but this year their effect seems even more pronounced. One year after a US Open without fans in attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the vibe is electric.
Medvedev, the only player remaining in the men’s singles draw that has yet to drop a set, believes the return of full capacity spectators has made a significant difference at New York.
“I think it's also that the fans are back,” the No.2-seeded Russian said when asked about the high number of comebacks from two sets to love down in week one. “Because as we can see in almost any match, if you're two sets to love down, the fans go crazy for the guy who is losing because they want to prolong the match. I think we didn't have this experience for a long time, so it's tougher for the one who is winning, because he's not anymore used to it and it's much easier for the guy who is losing, who is going to feed from it and just try to give everything.”
"There are no bums. Everyone's good. If you don't show up to play, you can lose to anyone.” -- Frances Tiafoe
Fans love drama, and they have been blessed with an embarrassment of riches at the 2021 US Open. It comes as a pleasant surprise, compared to pre-tournament expectations. For the first time since 1997, not a single member of the fabled trio consisting of Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal was able to participate in the main draw, due to injuries. That rough bit of news made for an inauspicious beginning, but the 256 singles players who stepped in to play the main draw have poured their hearts and souls into their tennis, and the fans have responded in kind.
Frances Tiafoe, who upset No.5-seeded Andrey Rublev in a five-set battle before falling to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the round of 16, believes that the absence of Federer and Nadal might have lit a fire under the rank-and-file.
“You don't have Roger, Rafa. Guys are hungry. Guys are like, ‘The Open, I got to push.’ So I think that has definitely a part to play in it,” he said.
Tiafoe, who entered the main draw with a ranking of 50, says that unseeded players are closing the gap in the dog-eat-dog world of professional tennis.
“Level of tennis is high,” he said. “Anyone can beat anyone. Look, I'm 50 in the world. I'm beating all these kinds of guys. You have qualifiers in the round of 16, like tennis, like there are no bums. Everyone's good. If you don't show up to play, you can lose to anyone.”
More than anything, Tiafoe believes that the absence of Federer and Nadal has symbolic meaning to the players. Missing a pair of 20-time major champions makes players feel that there is more opportunity for them to move deep into the draw.
“I definitely think guys are trying extra hard, because [of the absence of] Roger and Rafa,” he said. “I truly believe that. I see guys foaming in the mouth. It is pretty funny to watch, I'm in the locker room, cracking up. You have Seppi, 37, playing 15-13 in the fifth. What's that about? Crazy. His 18th US Open, he's putting his heart on the line. He's probably not doing that if he plays Rafa in the second round.”
The exorbitant amount of five-setters and comebacks from two sets down could be a glimpse into the short-term future of tennis, when players like Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the Williams sisters will have hung up their racquets. With no clear alpha dog on either tour, everybody will enter a Grand Slam draw believing the next two weeks can change their fortunes. Perhaps that is why we have so many hotly contested battles.
It’s not only the men that are producing dramatic moments in New York. There have been 28 three-setters in the women’s singles draw through four rounds.
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic hasn’t dropped a set but she did play the longest tiebreak in the women’s singles tournament in fourth-round action on Monday. The Swiss saved four match points to win it, 14-12, over Iga Swiatek. Afterwards, she talked about the crowd’s influential role in the match.
“It's very motivating, and maybe sometimes when you don't play with people, the match can slip away from you a little bit,” she said. “[With the crowd], maybe you will fight more.”
The women’s singles tournament has also seen the record for the longest match shatteredーtwice.
Multiple factors are coalescing to create the perfect dramatic storm at this year’s US Open.
“Every player now is tough to beat,” opined Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will play for a spot in his first career Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. “Everybody plays well. All my matches were tough, my first round, you play matches and sometimes it's a tussle, it's a fight, and you have to get through.
“For sure I think myself and all the other young players are hungry to do more, to do more, and to take the spot of the others.”
Speaking of Alcaraz, he believes his history-making run would not have been possible if it weren’t for the New York crowds. Over the weekend, backed by a growing bandwagon of loyal fans, the 18-year-old became the youngest US Open quarterfinalist in US Open history by winning back-to-back five-setters over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Peter Gojowzcyk.
“In the first sets I thought that I reached my limit physically and mentally,” he said. “I think the crowd was really, really important for me in this situation. So I felt the energy of the crowd pushing me up. Yeah, I think without the crowd, it wouldn't be possible to be here.”
