After the showstoppers, a flat finale

The U.S. Open tennis tournament did indeed end over the weekend, but I must say I wasn't all that excited about the finals, and I looked in at them only for short stretches. Alexander Zverev of Germany defeated Ben Shelton of the United States in the men's singles, and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan defeated Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the women's. Both champions were the no. 1 seeds, and the women's runner-up was no. 2. The men's runner-up was seeded eighth.

I knew I couldn't watch the women's championship match. Sabalenka is obnoxious, particularly when she's losing. And on this Saturday in the Big Apple, she displayed extremely poor sportsmanship, even for her, smashing her racquets, verbally abusing a photographer, disrespecting the second-place trophy, the whole show. This ruined the vibe, even with the sound off to mute her incessant, pointless screaming. I've decided not to show her face on this site any more. May she get some help for her mental problems.

Meanwhile, Rybakina is as bland as bland can be. You'd think that the contrast between the two finalists might have made for captivating viewing, but not really. The match took three sets to decide.

For the men, the final outcome was predictable and never in doubt. Shelton forced a fourth set, but it never looked to me as though he would pull out the victory. I tuned in and out, and didn't listen hardly at all to the dronings of the commentators, John McEnroe and Chris Fowler. By the end of the match, the action had gotten so numbing that when Zverev won the last point, for a moment he set up to return another Shelton serve, not even realizing that he had just won the trophy. It was that kind of slog.

For the German, this was his second Grand Slam title, his other victory having been in the French Open earlier this year. He won both while Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were either injured or recovering, but no asterisk should be applied. Given the grind that the tour has become, injuries are a bigger part of the game than ever, and the German endured his own long layoff after a hideous turn of the ankle in the French in 2022.

Although the finals action in New York was not must-see TV, on the whole the U.S. Open was an entertaining event. The rounds got more and more interesting as the two weeks went along, until the last matches ended things with a whimper.

In any event, at this point the overlong pro tennis season starts to wind down. There is the Davis Cup international team competition, the tour finals, and some other events, I'm sure, but the majors are over. As is my tennis watching, until the Australian Open, played in Melbourne. It cranks up on January 17.