Every year, thousands of fans head to New York City to fill the many stadiums of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to watch the best tennis players compete for the U.S. Open Grand Slam title.

Held in Flushing Meadows, Queens, the U.S. Open is one of tennis’s four Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open). It is one of the most exciting tournaments because it’s the players’ last chance to win a major title that year. This tournament brings together the top 128 players in the world, competing in women’s singles and doubles, men’s singles and doubles, mixed doubles, junior championships, and wheelchair tennis.

Players from 54 nations are represented in this year’s U.S. Open tournaments. Some of the most favored players by students are “Ben Shelton, Carlos Alcaraz, Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka because they all have strong serves, their interviews are fun to watch, and the matches are entertaining,” freshman Alila Groban said. “I like watching them because every match is so unpredictable and exciting,”

For students who play tennis at Convent, watching the U.S. Open gives them a chance to connect with each other about their favorite players, insights, and moments from the nail-biting matches. “What makes the U.S. Open so exciting to watch as a tennis player is that you get to learn while watching the best of the best play each other,” junior Áine Ruddy said. “It is also fun to watch because you can see yourself and your teammates in these players, and it makes playing tennis something to look forward to even more.” 

As the tournament enters its final rounds, four American tennis players remain in the singles competition: Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula. For Americans, their success this year has been extremely noticeable, since the last American Man to win an Open was Andy Roddick in 2003, 22 years ago. However, Coco Gauff won in 2023. 

“How is it that we continue to get pockets of dominant players such as Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner when so many players have access to similar training and resources?” history teacher and former tennis coach Pierluigi Valceschini said. “I’m also curious as to why it has been so long since American players were at the top, though this year the U.S. has been dominating the Open.”

As the tournament comes to an end, students from Convent and fans will continue to watch the U.S. Open to see who the next champions will be. 

“Each player has a different playing style, so it’s very interesting to see how they compete against different opponents,” Groban said. “I also enjoy watching the energy each player brings to the court and seeing how the crowd reacts to them.”