American tennis fans got spoiled when a John McEnroe, a Jimmy Connors, a Pete Sampras or an Andre Agassi showed up in a big tournament. One might not think Jim Courier, Andy Roddick or Michael Chang on the same level yet all won major tournaments, like the Fab Four listed earlier.
Even when an American wasn't bidding for a championship at Wimbledon or Forest Hills, longtime home of the U.S. Open, tennis experienced a golden age. One would have liked it more if such as McEnroe and Connors had been less boisterous on court, both projecting an unwelcome image as ugly Americans -- and don't bring up Romanian Ilie Nastase,
American men came to exert a dominant place in the sport in part because Australian Rod Laver, perhaps the surpassing player of any year, predictably aged. Laver won the sport's four major tournaments in 1962 as an amateur and in 1969 as a professional, his second grand slam coming one year after the Black Arthur Ashe struck a mighty blow for American tennis with a U.S. Open title.
Ashe won the 1975 Wimbledon crown over Connors when the brash basher from Belleville, Illinois, was becoming insufferable. McEnroe came to master Borg so often and for such high stakes that the Swede, five-time Wimbledon champion, retired after losing to the American in the 1981 Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals. One holds out for Laver as the player most desired on one's side in a winner-take-all match against, say, Roger Federer, but of the Americans it would likely be McEnroe getting the nod though only if one had the umpire and line judges bought off.
Entering Friday's first men's semifinal at the Open, the only American male with a chance was unseeded Ben Shelton, and that after a quarterfinal takedown of 10th-seeded American Frances Tiafoe. That four-set match saw Shelton win the first set and take command after a third-set tiebreaker. Tiafoe, who is Black and is thus seen as the next Ashe, could not regain control when a service break might have squared things, going down meekly 6-2 in the fourth set.
Shelton was given a puncher's chance in the next round against No. 2 Novak Djokovic. The American was the last person with a chance to block a Wimbledon finals rematch between the Joker, he of Serbia, and top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.
No one remembers seeing a 20-year-old with more star power than Alcaraz, who slugged to a five-set victory over the Serb at Wimbledon. Third-seeded Russian Danill Medvedev stood in his way in the night semifinal Friday.
The second week of the American championship has been played in stifling heat with Medvedev saying Wednesday that "someone's going to die out there." Already, we have had night matches with someone in the crowd singing the German national anthem and Coco Gauff's semifinal win Thursday on the women's side marred because of environmental protesters.
Borrowing a line from a long-ago episode of "Law & Order," it's New York, go figure.
Gauff is the one player everyone wants to watch. Seeded 10th, she must step lively in the title match against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, the Australian Open champion early in the year and in her fourth major final of 2023. Sabalenka got past American Madison Keys in a 0-6, 7-6, 7-6 match Thursday that ended after midnight local time.
Mainly because of Gauff, she with rigorous and ennobling training provided by Brad Gilbert, an American woman is the golden girl of this year's national tennis championship. Do yourself a favor and tape the women's final today, starting about the same time (3 p.m.) as the Arkansas-Kent State football game.
Serena Williams is no longer a dominant force but with Christine Marie Evert and Mary Joe Fernandez in the ESPN booth, American tennis is well represented at Arthur Ashe Stadium. And long live Billie Jean King, to whom Elton John dedicated "Philadelphia Freedom," an American original born, like the song says, to wave the flag.