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NEW YORK — One year ago, Ben Shelton began his U.S. Open on Court 10, virtually in the back of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. To get there, you have to go to the other side of the fountains, where a ball that flies over the back fence is essentially lost forever.
On the first Monday of later that year, he had a different task: He was scheduled to face Dominic Thiem, the 2020 champion and a player Shelton watched with open mouth in his teenage years, at noon at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
How much has Shelton’s life changed in one year?
“I just felt comfortable,” he said. “I was used to it. It felt like I had been there before.”
Indeed he had. The then 20-year-old played three matches in the sport’s biggest stadium last year, culminating in a semifinal clash with Novak Djokovic. That ended with the 24-time Grand Slam champion mocking Shelton’s celebration as he hung up and Shelton staring Djokovic down during an icy handshake.
“After last year, the stage can’t get much bigger,” Shelton said.
Maybe. Or maybe not.
For the first time since 1996, five men and five women from the United States are ranked in the top 20. With none of the men ranked higher than No. 12, it is not exactly the glory years of Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Chang. No American has won this tournament since Andy Roddick in 2003. But the top five women include Coco Gauff, the defending champion, and four others ranked no lower than Madison Keys at No. 14.
Hope is tangible. The grounds are teeming with people, the metal stands and concrete walkways of the sports fields are full of people, noise and expectations.
US Open fans flocked to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center full of hope. (Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
Shelton was the first hitter for the bigger names in the top half of the field, with Gauff coming after him. She could not rely on the calm and composure that Shelton displayed in the opening game before defeating a weakening Thiem 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Ben Shelton wants to repeat his run to the semifinals in 2023. (Seth Wenig / Associated Press)
The last time Gauff played a competitive game here, she finished flat on her back, with tears streaming down her face and 24,000 adoring fans screaming for her and everything she meant.
The 20-year-old doesn’t like waving to crowds because she sees how many people are watching her. It makes her nervous. But Shelton jokingly told her off for it during a charity match during Fan Week, so she waved on Monday. Here come the butterflies.
The warm-up calmed her down, but then she almost lost her serve on her first two attempts. Then she calmed down and defeated the even weaker French player Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-0.
“I feel like I’m finding my game,” said Gauff when it was over.
She has been shaky since her loss in the semifinals of the French Open in June. Losing earlier than expected. On the court, she has clashed with coaches over mistakes and with umpires over decisions. Her victories this summer have been mainly against players outside the top 50.
She is number 2 in the world. She knows she should be better.
She lost early in Cincinnati, too, but then had a good week of training, she said. During that time, she turned the scenario around in her head, telling herself that the early loss in Ohio, where she was the defending champion, was a blessing in disguise. It gave her extra time to train, some flat track after the rat race of the Olympics, Canada and Cincinnati.
Coco Gauff says she is slowly getting back into her game after a difficult phase. (Fatih Aktas / Anadolu via Getty Images)
She entered Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday with the belief that she would find her game regardless of the score.
“Of course it’s good to get through the first round like that,” she said. “I’ve learned that how you start a tournament doesn’t necessarily determine how you finish it and vice versa.”
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That’s true, but the first step is surviving the start. Taylor Fritz knows this better than anyone. When he came to New York two years ago, he believed he could actually win.
Djokovic didn’t play because he refused to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Rafael Nadal played while injured. Roger Federer was a month away from retiring. Carlos Alcaraz was just a guy named Carlos Alcaraz – or at least as close to it as he’s ever been.
Instead, Fritz lost in the first round to a qualifier named Brandon Holt. Holt is best known for being the son of Tracy Austin, a two-time champion a few generations ago, and for beating Fritz at the 2022 US Open when Fritz thought he actually had a chance to win the tournament.
Taylor Fritz used the momentum of a close first set to effortlessly defeat his opponent Camilo Ugo Carabelli. (Fatih Aktas / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Fritz will remember this defeat and the double-edged advantages of a home Slam tournament at every US Open and until his retirement.
“It’s great to play at your home Slam tournament with all the spectators and everything,” he said after his straight-set victory over Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli.
Keys, who was runner-up to another American, Sloane Stephens, in 2017, joined the trio in making it a clear victory, rolling past Czech doubles star Katerina Siniakova. Emma Navarro swept Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-1.
Stephens had her game well under control and led against Frenchwoman Clara Burel 6-0 and 3-0, but then she faltered and lost 0-6, 7-5 and 7-5.
There were some better American upsets. In her first main draw match on the WTA Tour, 16-year-old wildcard Iva Jovic defeated Poland’s Magda Linette, who is twice her age and 347 places higher in the rankings.
Before the pandemic, Jovic played soccer and swam; she was an all-round athlete. But when COVID-19 hit, tennis was the only sport she could play because she didn’t have to be part of a team.
She is now the youngest American woman to ever win a main draw match at the US Open.
Iva Jovic defeated Magda Linette, who was ranked 347 places ahead of her. (Robert Prange / Getty Images)
Beating Linette seemed like a pretty big challenge, but Jovic had watched other juniors she had beaten knock out solid tour players over the last few months and was confident she had the level.
“I have no comparison, but it is definitely nice that my first match is in New York,” said Jovic, who played on Court 15 in front of a packed crowd that could have melted the knees of other teenagers.
And then there was Taylor Townsend, the Wimbledon doubles champion, who lived out her status as a nightmare left-hander with strong serves on the singles court.
“This is nothing sudden,” said Townsend after her victory over Italian Martina Trevisan.
“The success I had in doubles and the understanding I gained about myself is now being transferred to singles.”
Taylor Townsend’s best singles performance in New York was a fourth-round appearance in 2019. (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
Another surprise? Brandon Nakashima beats 15th seed Holger Rune 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in a solid hour and 55 minutes. Considering Rune’s recent form and Nakashima’s tendency to trick his opponents into making mistakes, this isn’t exactly a big surprise.
Then came Frances Tiafoe, who had an evening appointment at Louis Armstrong Stadium. This is the tournament he spends 50 weeks counting the days for every year, and he has said, with just a hint of sarcasm, that it is one of only two tournaments he truly cares about.
The Citi Open in Washington, DC, is the other, but nothing compares to his home Grand Slam. That can be a double-edged sword, as it was for Fritz.
“I’m so excited,” Tiafoe said last week. That, too, can have both pros and cons, and he knows it. New coach David Witt’s reputation as one of the more laid-back guys in the game is one of the reasons Tiafoe hired him.
“I can go really high and go pretty low, and he keeps me on my toes,” he said. “He doesn’t let the moments get bigger than they are or get as exhausting as I can make them sometimes.”
Frances Tiafoe is getting back into shape after a difficult first six months of the year. (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)
Once the action got going, Tiafoe was in his element, with plenty of whipping forehands and touch volleys that can make him a human highlight when he’s on form. And that’s what he was for most of the evening, which ended with a four-set victory over another American, Alex Kovacevic.
Tiafoe faltered a bit in the third set and was unable to beat Kovacevic with the efficiency he would need if he wants to return to the second week.
“It got pretty tough at the end,” Tiafoe said.
On the always nerve-wracking opening night of the domestic slam, it was enough to get the matter done.
(Top photo of Brandon Nakashima: Matt Rourke / Associated Press)
