Switzerland’s Dominic Thiem won his first Grand Slam title in New York defeating Russia’s Alexander Zverev whilst in the Ladies competition Japan’s Naomi Osaka defeated Belarus’s Victoria Azarenka.
The US Open at Flushing Meadows in New York is traditionally the last Grand Slam of the year but due to COVID-19 it took place this year before the French Open in Paris. Sadly, due to COVID-19 no fans were able to witness any tennis as it was played behind closed doors and obviously this meant that there were no US Open tennis hospitality packages available.
Several of the leading men and women’s players did not take part either due to injury or because of health concerns. These included two of the greatest ever men’s players, Roger Federer and Rafeal Nadal. Ashleigh Barty, the world’s number one female tennis player, decided not to play due to travel and health concerns along with other leading players such as Simona Halep, Bianca Andreesu and Kiki Bertens.
The players who did take part were tested for COVID-19 daily and had to stay in their accommodation or in the Billie Jean National Tennis Centre. Luckily no player was found to have picked up the virus and forced to withdraw.
In the men’s competition world number one Novak Djokovic was the clear favourite and looked on course to win his eighteenth Grand Slam until he became the first number one ranked tennis player to be disqualified from a Grand Slam singles competition. This happened in his match against Pablo Carreno Busta when he lost his cool and inadvertently hit a ball at a line judge. This of course, is against the rules, and he was disqualified.
The Men’s final was a compelling affair between Thiem and Zverev who was making his first appearance in a Grand Slam final. Zverev came out the blocks strongly and won the first two sets but let the nerves get to him and he went on to lose the next three sets which meant Thiem was the first new Grand Slam winner for six years. Tennis over the last six years has been dominated by Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray and we would say it is a good sign but Nadal and Federer didn’t play, Murray is just on the way back after a long layoff and Djokovic got disqualified. However, this win should give Thiem confidence when going in to the French Open for next year in general.
The Ladies Final went to the final set too and had a similar pattern to the men’s final. Osaka started badly but raised her game in the second and third sets winning them both 6-3. This was her second US Open title and third Grand Slam.
Next up is the French Open in Paris before the Australian Open in January.
If you are looking to attend Wimbledon next year, we have Wimbledon Debenture seats available each day of the Championships. These are the best seats on the court and tend to be mid-way up and give access to the Debenture level where there are bars and restaurants. A seating plan is here. If you are looking for a more VIP experience, we have a range of Wimbledon Hospitality packages.