The good, the bad, and ugly from the 2023 US Open so far

Through nearly two weeks of the 2023 US Open, we have seen some fantastic tennis. We have seen a new wave of American players perform at a high level as well. While the world has fantastic players everywhere, of course, the sport of tennis is financially more successful if a few American players are good as well.

We thankfully have also seen several African-American players make deep runs at this year’s US Open. In the quarterfinal match between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton, tennis fans saw for the first time two black males play each other that deep into the tournament. That’s not a good thing; That’s a great thing.

Another great thing is seeing the rise of Coco Gauff. The 19-year-old who seems like she has been around for decades already has flirted with being a top-level player for some time now. But she appears to have turned the proverbial corner toward greatness after hiring Brad Gilbert as her coach in July. Now she’s into the semis and the second-highest-seeded player left on the women’s side. She has the game and personality to raise the profile of the WTA for years to come.

US Open 2023: Good, bad and ugly

There’s been some bad during the tournament too, though. The heat and especially how the tournament handles the heat on center court. To keep the roof open in Arthur Ashe Stadium or not seems to be a very difficult decision for those in charge. The issue is that on the court the conditions can be brutal and there’s clearly no wind because of the stadium atmosphere.

Daniil Medvedev minced no words during his quarterfinal match with Andrey Rublev when addressing the heat on center court. The third seed looked at the camera directly in front of him while he was getting his towel and said, “One player’s gonna die and they are going to see.” He was clearly talking about the people in charge of the US Open who seem to have no clue how to make conditions better for the players in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Finally, there was some ugly at the US Open as well. The fans in New York can be boisterous and that’s fine to a degree. But one fan in particular during an Alexander Zverev match this week completely crossed the line by yelling “Deutschland uber alles” at the German. The phrase is offensive as the Nazis used the phrase to drive their fascist program. Zverev rightfully complained and the fan was removed.