A Barber At Work And Men Waiting Their Turn

Walking the grounds at Flushing during mixed-doubles time was an A+ way of avoiding most of the insanity that accompanies singles tourney play while still being able to see the stars. A grounds pass during the family-oriented days (I know) can be extremely affordable (free) if you know where to look for people who don’t particularly enjoy that there is a next generation, or at least people who openly do not enjoy their own releases while the genre’s popular[1].

Join the relevant servers, fan communities and message boards: this is now the way to not spend $1,000+ in a single day at a 7 train stop, provided you’ve got a full day off from work or, as was just relayed to some of us from people some of us had never heard of before and will likely never see again, do not have a job anymore. Nevertheless.

Now then: the tennis itself. There is something satisfying to Carlos Alcaraz having returned from his disappointment in the Wimbledon final, a four-set loss to champion and, ahem, then-world no. 1 Jannik Sinner. It’s a satisfaction now fully blissed across the border into validation that this, right here, is the next/now generation of men’s tennis.

Full disclosure, because I don’t have any drawings to hide[2]: apart from the opening game or two, I did not watch the US Open men’s final live. Instead, I was blessed with that match in full on Tuesday, when I ran it back via ESPN’s new and horrendous streaming app with the Spanish-language feed, the only one of which I could actually find a replay[3].

Following along via phone, then, meant sort of rudely checking in every twenty or so minutes to see where things stood while I was otherwise trying to enjoy a very nice time; watching Alcaraz take off from the third set onward was a shaky demonstration digitally that only became apparent in rewatching the match at length[4].

Sinner’s service game down 3-1 in the first set was the harbinger, Alcaraz beautifully deploying the backhanded drop shot on which he already has the all-time handle up 15-0 and 3-1. Taking the reigns from there, Carlos Alcaraz, leaning all the way into his Nadal successorship via sleeveless livery, smashed a crosscourt winner more reminiscent of Federer on his way to closing the first set, 6-3.

As much as Alcaraz was on, Sinner felt off: it was similar to how Alcaraz seemed in the Wimbledon final, which Sinner won in four sets. It was Alcaraz’s first loss in a Slam final. The Spaniard seemed on Sunday, as ever, to have brought the energy, and with it the need to win – Alcaraz suffers from unserious accusations of his unseriousness, but they exist, so seeing him come out of the gate was encouraging in its own regard.

Sinner’s second set was an instant repudiation of the notion that he doesn’t play with that kind of vitality when it’s on; it was one of the better examples of energy matching energy from Jannik in a Slam knockout match that I’ve seen. Sinner’s 6-3 route, dominant though it was, would end up being the only set Alcaraz dropped the entire tournament, aside from the mixed doubles he was forced into.

At least in the bigger matches, Sinner has an unwavering center that necessarily draws the Djokovic comparison; i.e., he can tend to carry the robotic affectation, even in the matches when it looks like he’s doing his best to draw the crowd in. His run in Cincinnati, where he withdrew due to illness in the final against Carlos Alcaraz three weeks ago, was a genial and dominant rush to the final, along the way winning over the crowds[5].

Bad haircut (courtesy of his brother?? We’re all glad Oasis has returned) and all, though, Carlos Alcaraz was not to be stopped. After picking through Sinner’s expertly-placed slices in the third set like my dog picks through the various branches on the sidewalk[6], Alcaraz won it 6-1. Another set of expert shot-making later, and – with Steph Curry watching – Carlos Alcaraz is the U.S. Open champion men’s again.

Look at you now: you’re all in my hands tonight.

Where they stand is this: in fifteen matches, the 22-year-old Alcaraz, now ranked the world No. 1, leads 10 wins to 5 over the 24-year-old Jannik Sinner. Unless the Medvedevs or Runes of the world have something to say, the next ten years or so of men’s tennis is going to look a lot like the past two have. As opposed to likewise consolidation elsewhere, this is the exciting eventuality we have been awaiting.

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[1] Hey, by the way: buy Giri Nathan’s book Changeover. Full disclosure: I know him, which I feel always necessary to say before talking about the book, but also what the fuck is journalistic integrity anymore, but also please read the ground zero exploration of these players while you’ve got the chance, preferably in physical form. He was ahead of all of this before anybody not named Alcaraz or Sinner was. On the same hand: Mary Carillo, folks! Mary Carillo! This is not Colleen Clark in the tree with the hockey stick! This ain’t Christopher Burr, despite there ALWAYS being Christopher Burr!

[2] ALLEGEDLY! Only [allegedly] hiding the birthday drawings. What’s that all about? Must be nothing and/or lies and/or jokes that we, the miserable and stupid poor people outside of the child trafficking tax bracket, do not and cannot understand. Wait, what – No way! The Clintons too? Wild, but of course true. Excellent news, that rocks, glad we can agree. Alright, anyway-

[3] People bringing us technology we are not meant to understand are the geniuses they themselves sell to us, which is to say that they are full of absolute garbage, and unfortunately and necessarily I remain a customer. Put another way: ESPN U.S. Americans have to be proud of how splintered everything is because freedom means being able to sell individual, targeted ads in groups to DSPs as a standalone, individual platform, so you get to pay for all of the content and ads individually, which is very obviously good for you, the consumer on a fixed income, as it results in even more individualization of channels, and all you ever want is to never meet another person again in your life, so all the individualized, splintered ads coming your way are what you want. Congratulations! Don’t ask me to explain why you opted out of {this} and are still getting {it}.

[4] In the midst of rewatching the highlights from this match on YouTube – we all make sacrifices every day, until we can’t, and sure, you’re safe on YouTube – it served me an ad in which the dialogue was something like, “Day 1, you’re nothing; day 5, you notice the differences; day 7, you embrace the change; by day 10, you’re everything.” Neither of the ‘people’ in this ad was real, and I have no idea what the ad was for.

[5] Especially in the wake of his doping ban earlier this year.

[6] That’s right.