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    How to Watch the U.S. Open Final: Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka Play for the Championship

    Gauff, 19, is the first American teenager to reach the singles final in New York since Serena Williams in 2001.Follow live updates on the U.S. Open women’s final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka.The U.S. Open women’s singles final is set: Coco Gauff, the 19-year-old American, will play Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed from Belarus.The championship match, which is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. Eastern, will be Gauff’s first appearance in a U.S. Open final, making her the first American teenager to reach the final in New York since Serena Williams in 2001. Gauff has already played in a Grand Slam final in 2022, when she lost the French Open to Iga Swiatek.Sabalenka, 25, will also be playing in a U.S. Open final for the first time after reaching the semifinals of the tournament in 2021 and 2022. Sabalenka has performed well at Grand Slams this year. She won the Australian Open in January for her first Grand Slam title, and she reached the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon.Here’s what to know about the match.Their roads to the final.Before the semifinals, Sabalenka had sailed through the tournament, winning her first five matches without dropping a set. That streak ended in the semifinal on Thursday against Madison Keys, who took the first set from Sabalenka 6-0 in a swift 30 minutes. But Sabalenka fought back, winning the next two sets on tiebreakers.Gauff’s matches have not been as straightforward. She played a full three sets in the first round against Laura Siegemund, in the third round against Elise Mertens and in the fourth round against Caroline Wozniacki.But since then, Gauff has had back-to-back straight sets wins. In the quarterfinals against Jelena Ostapenko she won 6-0, 6-2, in just over an hour. In the semifinals, Gauff beat Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5.Gauff leads the head-to-head.Sabalenka and Gauff have played against each other five times, and Gauff has won three of those matches. The final will be the first time the two have played each other at a Grand Slam tournament.Sabalenka won their most recent match in straight sets in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells earlier this year. After her match on Thursday, Sabalenka said that she hadn’t thought about that win because Gauff had improved since then.Gauff arrived at the U.S. Open this year after winning titles in Washington, D.C., and at the Western & Southern Open in Ohio.“It’s a different player,” Sabalenka said. “Going into this final, I think I just have to focus on myself and prepare myself for another fight. No matter what, just keep fighting and keep playing my best and do my best.”There’s a spotlight on Gauff.Since Gauff turned pro at 14, she has been under a near-constant spotlight and has often been described as an heir apparent to Serena Williams. Gauff affirmed those descriptions for many when she reached her first Grand Slam singles final last year at the French Open at just 18 years old.Now, as the last American woman standing in the tournament, the focus is on Gauff yet again. Gauff said after her match on Thursday that she had been avoiding social media to block out the expectations people have for her.“I have just been really focusing on myself,” she said. “I really believe that now I have the maturity and ability to do it. Regardless of what happens on Saturday, I’m really proud of how I have been handling the last few weeks.”Still, Gauff is seeking her first Grand Slam tournament title, and after winning on Thursday, she said on court that the “job’s not done yet,” a reference to the basketball star Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash in 2020.“That’s the mentality that I have,” Gauff said. “I’m trying to enjoy the moment, but also knowing I still have more work to do. Yes, the final is an incredible achievement, but it’s something that I’m not satisfied with yet.”Don’t count out Sabalenka.After losing the first set of her semifinal match on Thursday without winning a single game, Sabalenka found herself down 4-2 in the second set against Keys. But Sabalenka willed her way back, forcing a tiebreaker in the second set, and then again in the third set.“I’m really proud that I was able to turn around this match,” Sabalenka said.Thursday night was not the first time Sabalenka had pulled off such a comeback. At last year’s tournament, Sabalenka was down — 2-6, 1-5 — in a second-round match against Kaia Kanepi. The match had been Kanepi’s to lose until Sabalenka fought back to win the second set and then the third.Sabalenka said the best way to practice comebacks is in tournaments, but even in practice, she will visualize being down 4-1 in a set.A world No. 1 spot awaits.Even if Sabalenka were to lose the final on Saturday, she would become the new women’s world No. 1 on Monday when the WTA rankings are updated. Sabalenka is guaranteed the top spot after Swiatek, who reigned as the No. 1 player for 75 weeks, was eliminated from the U.S. Open in the fourth round.After her fourth-round match against Daria Kasatkina on Monday, Sabalenka said she wasn’t thinking about the No. 1 spot yet.“I don’t want to celebrate anything before the end of the U.S. Open,” she said. “I just want to focus on this tournament more than on world No. 1.” More

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    Coco Gauff Plays Karolina Muchova in US Open Semifinal Thursday

    Gauff, 19, is one match win away from making the U.S. Open singles final for the first time in her career.Two American women will play on Thursday for spots in the U.S. Open final.One, Coco Gauff, the No. 6 seed, will play in the semifinals against 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. On the other side of the draw, 17th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States will face off against second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, this year’s Australian Open champion.Much of the spotlight in this tournament has been on Gauff, 19, in part for how far she has advanced on the tour while still a teenager. She reached the French Open final last year, and she is the first American teenager to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since Serena Williams did it in 2001.To reach the final, Gauff will need to defeat Muchova, who reached the French Open final this year.Here’s what to know about the match between Gauff and Muchova, set for Thursday at 7 p.m., Eastern time.How did they get here?Muchova has effectively cruised into the semifinals. Through her first five matches, she has dropped only one set, which came in the fourth round against Wang Xinyu. She advanced to the semifinals after defeating Sorana Cirstea, 6-0, 6-3, in the quarterfinals.Some of Gauff’s matches have gone on longer than she would have liked. She played a full three sets in the first round against Laura Siegemund, in the third round against Elise Mertens and in the fourth round against Caroline Wozniacki. In the quarterfinals, Gauff defeated Jelena Ostapenko, 6-0, 6-2, in just over an hour.Gauff says she’s feeling fresh.Gauff has spent a lot of time on court this tournament. In the single’s draw alone, she has played 9 hours 19 minutes. She has also played four matches through the quarterfinals in the women’s doubles draw with her partner, Jessica Pegula. She also played one match in the mixed doubles draw with Jack Sock.But despite all the court time, Gauff said after her victory over Ostapenko that she has been working to build her endurance for the later stages of Grand Slam tournaments.“I’m still in the mind-set that I’m in the beginning of the tournament,” Gauff said. “I just feel so fresh, to be honest. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been tricking myself or maybe when this is over I’m going to hit a wall. But I’m really proud of how I’m able to get through these matches.”Gauff beat Muchova recently.Gauff and Muchova have played each other only once. That match was in August in the final of the Western & Southern Open in Ohio, which Gauff won, 6-3, 6-4.Gauff said she was going to plan a different approach to playing Muchova this time because she thought Muchova was struggling physically in that match.“I don’t think that will be the case again,” Gauff said.Muchova didn’t want to reveal too much about her tactics against Gauff in the semifinal, saying she would focus on her own game. But Muchova said she knows Gauff has several tools to use in matches.“She’s very athletic,” Muchova said. “She never gives up, runs for every ball, doesn’t do many mistakes. She has kind of all the strokes.”Both players have reached a Grand Slam final.Now they want to win one. Muchova reached the final of the French Open this year, but lost in three sets to Iga Swiatek. Gauff experienced the same thing last year at the French Open, where she also lost the final to Swiatek.But while experience in a Grand Slam final is important, Muchova will also face a loud crowd that will be eager to cheer for an American in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.Aryna Sabalenka or Madison Keys will be next.The winner of the Gauff-Muchova match will play the winner of the other semifinal matchup, between Sabalenka and Keys, which follows. Sabalenka is favored to win, but, like Gauff, Keys will have an American crowd backing her in Arthur Ashe.“Of course, they will support her more than me,” Sabalenka said of Keys on Wednesday. “I’ll just try to stay focused and try to play my best tennis.”The women’s final is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. More

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    Naomi Osaka Makes U.S. Open Return. But Not for Tennis.

    Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion, has taken breaks from tennis for her mental health and to start a family, but she is aiming to compete again in 2024.Naomi Osaka didn’t bring any rackets with her when she arrived at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Wednesday afternoon. Osaka had no plans to play tennis.“For me, coming back here, it means a lot,” Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam singles champion, said. “It’s like seeing an old friend that you haven’t seen in a long time.”Osaka was speaking in the main news conference room on Wednesday inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. She knows it well. It’s where she got to field questions from reporters on some of her best occasions, like her U.S. Open championships in 2018 and 2020. It’s also where she has been during low moments, including a first-round exit at last year’s tournament.“There were some tears shed,” Osaka said about the room. “A lot.”On Wednesday, Osaka had returned for a panel with Michael Phelps, the American swimmer who stands as the most decorated Olympian ever; Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general; and Dr. Brian Hainline, the chief medical officer of the N.C.A.A. and the chairman of the United States Tennis Association board.Michael Phelps, the decorated Olympic swimmer, said in the past he trained more intensely instead of reaching out for help with mental health issues.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThe topic of the panel, mental health and sports, is one that Osaka has spoken about often since she cited mental health concerns in her withdrawal from the French Open in 2021. Her exit then led to a break from tennis.Osaka, who turned pro in 2013 as a teenager and came to be seen as the heir apparent to Serena Williams, is away from tennis now, too. In January she announced she was pregnant but planned to play in the 2024 Australian Open. She gave birth to her daughter in July, calling it on Instagram “a cool little intermission.”On Wednesday, Osaka, 25, said she had plenty of time to reflect during her most recent leave from the sport.“It definitely made me appreciate a lot of things that I took for granted,” she said.Osaka did not say when she planned to return to tennis during the panel, but she later told ESPN in an interview that she had designs on playing in 2024, adding that she has been training and should be hitting balls soon.Speaking back in that room, Osaka alluded to the idea of having a long career.“I just remember watching the Australian Open and being very devastated because I’ve never missed an Australian Open,” Osaka said. But while watching, Osaka said, she thought about how late Serena and Venus Williams played into their careers.Serena Williams, who retired at last year’s U.S. Open, played until she was 40. Venus Williams, 43, played at this year’s tournament, losing in the first round of singles.“I was thinking I probably no way will ever play at their age,” Osaka said. “But sitting here, I’m like, you know what? I might do that.”Osaka said pregnancy gave her a lot of time to think, and that she felt isolated at times. She had to force herself to ask for help.“I actually felt lonely during my pregnancy just because I felt like I wasn’t able to do a lot of things,” she said.She added: “Normally I’m thinking, ‘If I’m going to be an independent woman, then I’m not going to ask anyone for help. Whenever something happens, just take it on the chin.’ But then I got to a place where I needed to ask for help.”For decades, many athletes have been reluctant to share their struggles with their mental health. It’s especially the case for professionals, whose jobs require them to push their bodies to perform at the highest level. But in recent years, athletes have gradually become more open about discussing mental health. Besides Osaka, they include the gymnast Simone Biles, the basketball star Kevin Love, and, in tennis, Amanda Anisimova, the young American once ranked in the top 25 who in May cited mental health concerns in deciding to step away from the sport.Among Olympians, Phelps has also led a push to speak out on mental health.Osaka spoke on a panel with Michael Phelps, third from left; Dr. Vivek Murthy, left, the surgeon general; and Brian Hainline, fourth from left, the chief medical officer of the N.C.A.A. and the chair of the United States Tennis Association board.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesPhelps, who has also faced mental health issues, said that, like for Osaka, working through those problems required realizing he had to reach out and ask for help.“I learned that I couldn’t do it all by myself,” Phelps said.After winning six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games, Phelps entered what he described as a “post-Olympics depression.” But instead of reaching out to someone for help, Phelps said, he compartmentalized his issues by swimming and training more.It wasn’t until about 2014, Phelps said, when he hit a “breaking point.”“I decided that something had to change,” he said. “So for me, I had to become vulnerable for the first time in my life.While Osaka didn’t say exactly when she’ll play again, when she returns the difficulties of life on tour will follow, such as time away from family and the pressure of competing in an individualistic sport. But this time, Osaka said she will be more comfortable seeking help when she needs it.Osaka said that she had two friends she counts on when she is dealing with loneliness.“I know I can reach out to them at any time, and I think it’s really important,” she said. “You’re not alone in anything.” More

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    Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe Set for All-American Quarterfinal

    Here’s what to know about the singles match between Shelton and Tiafoe, two of the three American men remaining in the U.S. Open.The men’s semifinals at the U.S. Open are guaranteed to include at least one American.That’s because 10th-seeded Frances Tiafoe and unseeded Ben Shelton will play for one of the final four spots when they meet in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Their match features two of the three American men remaining in the tournament. The other is ninth-seeded Taylor Fritz, who will play second-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia in another quarterfinal on Tuesday. It is the first time since 2005 that three American men have advanced this far in singles at the Open.Tiafoe and Shelton have not played each other as professionals. Tiafoe reached the semifinals at last year’s Open. And while Shelton will be playing in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time, he reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in January, losing to his fellow American Tommy Paul.Here’s what to know about the match.How did they get here?Tiafoe has dropped only one set in four matches. He had straight-sets wins against Learner Tien of the United States and Sebastian Ofner of Austria. In the third round, he faced Adrian Mannarino, a 22nd-seeded Frenchman, who took the first set. But Tiafoe won in four sets even as Mannarino gave him trouble, pushing a tiebreaker in the fourth set.Tiafoe cruised in the fourth round in another straight-sets victory, this time against Rinky Hijikata of Australia.Shelton has played more matches than Tiafoe at the U.S. Open. In addition to men’s singles, Shelton played, and lost, in the first round of the men’s doubles draw. He also won his quarterfinals match on Monday with his partner, Taylor Townsend.Shelton’s serve has reached 149 miles per hour twice at this U.S. Open.Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York TimesShelton defeated Pedro Cachin of Argentina in the first round in four sets, then caught a break in the second round when his opponent, Dominic Thiem of Austria, retired in the second set with what appeared to be a stomach-related issue.He then beat Aslan Karatsev of Russia in four sets and upset Paul, also in four sets.Beware of Shelton’s serve.One of Shelton’s best tools is his powerful serve. In his fourth-round match, he fired a 149-miles-per-hour ace against Paul. The serve has been the fastest at this tournament so far.“He’s throwing his whole arm in that thing,” Tiafoe said on Sunday.But Tiafoe can serve well, too. In his third-round match against Hijikata, Tiafoe had 15 aces, including two back to back in the second set that were clocked at 129 and 134 m.p.h.Still, Tiafoe acknowledged on Sunday that Shelton was more than a big serve. Shelton hits solid volleys, isn’t afraid to come to the net and plays with a lot of energy, Tiafoe said.“He’s going to throw the kitchen sink at me,” Tiafoe said.Keep an eye on Tiafoe’s drop shot.Among Tiafoe’s tools is a sneaky drop shot that he likes to use at the right moment. While his drop shot can be tough for his opponents to return, Tiafoe says he tries not to use it too often.“Because then they’re looking for it,” he said.Part of what makes playing Tiafoe difficult is that he can be unpredictable, mixing his drop shots with slices and play at the net. In his fourth-round match, Tiafoe fired an ace at 135 m.p.h. He followed it with a drop shot.Whether it’s with a two-handed backhand or a drop shot, Tiafoe wants to keep his opponent on his toes.Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times“It’s more fun when you’re out there just using your head and using different stuff and keeping your opponent on their toes,” he said.Aware of that, Shelton on Sunday described Tiafoe as “a nightmare to deal with.”“He’s just one of those guys where it’s must-see TV,” Shelton said of Tiafoe. “You want to watch him play all the time. He kind of has that Carlos Alcaraz effect, especially here in New York. This is his place where he really wants to show up.”Tiafoe has been here before.A quarterfinal match at the U.S. Open will be a first for Shelton, who said that reaching the final eight of the tournament had been a dream of his since he was a child.Tiafoe reached the semifinals last year, losing to Alcaraz. After coming so close to the final last year, he will be eager to have another shot.“I want to be playing my best tennis here,” Tiafoe said after his third-round match. “That’s ultimately what matters.”Taylor Fritz or Novak Djokovic await.The winner of Tuesday’s match will face Fritz or Djokovic, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, in the semifinals on Friday. Djokovic is heavily favored to win in the quarterfinals, but Fritz reached the final eight without dropping a set.Djokovic has won three of his four matches in straight sets, but he ran into trouble in the third round against his fellow countryman Laslo Djere, who took the first two sets before losing in five. More

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    Why Does Frances Tiafoe Change His Shirt So Often at the US Open?

    During a changeover 26 minutes into his second-round match against Sebastian Ofner, Frances Tiafoe reached into his bag, pulled out a fresh top and changed his shirt. Twenty-four minutes later, up by 4-1 in the second set, he swapped that shirt for a clean one again.Between the second and third set, Ofner took a medical timeout. Tiafoe had been wearing his shirt for only about six minutes, but he was ready for another.Before the match ended, Tiafoe changed his teal sleeveless shirt once more. By the end of his straight-sets victory over Ofner, there was a pile of sweaty shirts by Tiafoe’s bench. He picked them all up and stuffed them into his bag before leaving the court. (Those shirts are later given to the U.S. Open staff members who take care of the laundry.)Through the fourth round, Tiafoe had changed his top 20 times, an average of five times per match.“I don’t want to feel like I’m playing with really sweaty clothes just because I’m not prepared,” Tiafoe said. “I know how much I can sweat.”Maansi Srivastava/The New York TimesHe will usually return to his bench, hydrate and towel off his face and body before slipping into a fresh shirt. He has no specific method for determining when he needs to change. Sometimes he’ll grab a fresh shirt out of his bag at the end of a set. Other times, he will change multiple times in a single set.It is not uncommon for a player who has been sweating in a competition to change into a clean shirt a few times each match. But Tiafoe has taken freshening up to an elite, seemingly compulsive level.If he feels uncomfortable, he wants a fresh top.“You want to be as light as you can on the court,” Tiafoe said after his second-round victory, adding that if he feels even a small amount of moisture on his shirt, he’ll change it. “I’m very adamant about that.”Many athletes have quirks. Superstitious baseball players hop over foul lines to avoid bad luck. Rafael Nadal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, is steadfast about having two water bottles by his bench positioned diagonally from each other with the logos facing the court. For Tiafoe, it is a near obsession with changing shirts — perhaps more than any other player on the men’s tour.Tiafoe changing his shirt during his match against Sebastian Ofner.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesAt tournaments, many players wear one outfit and stick with it; others swap out an outfit only if it is uncomfortable or seems unlucky. At last year’s U.S. Open, Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, asked an umpire for permission to change her outfit in the middle of a match.Players can change tops from their benches during matches. Men are allowed two opportunities to leave the court for a complete outfit change in a best-of-five match, and women are allowed one change of attire in a best-of-three match.“Shirts, socks and shoes should be changed on court,” the International Tennis Federation rule book says.At this year’s U.S. Open, Tiafoe has sported a teal, sleeveless top patterned with shades of baby blue, coral, peach and maroon. He has completed his ensemble with teal shorts and a pair of bright red shoes with his nickname, Big Foe, across the heels.Tiafoe said he packed as many as 20 tops in his bag to be sure he had enough for his matches. He also takes two extra pairs of shoes, in case a pair becomes too sweaty.“I don’t want to feel like I’m playing with really sweaty clothes just because I’m not prepared,” Tiafoe said. “I know how much I can sweat.”And Tiafoe sweats a lot. In a couple of his matches at this tournament, even after he has changed shirts, Tiafoe has needed help from a ball crew member to peel his shirt off his back because the top had stuck to his shoulders.Tiafoe asking a ball boy to help him unroll his shirt.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesThe weather at the U.S. Open has appeared to play a role in how many times Tiafoe has changed clothes.In his first-round match, the humidity levels made playing conditions feel muggy inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. In that match, against Learner Tien, Tiafoe changed his shirt six times.But even after a cold front swept through New York in time for Tiafoe’s second- and third-round matches, he perspired enough to change four times on Wednesday against Ofner and four times on Friday against Adrian Mannarino.By his fourth-round match against Rinky Hijikata on Sunday, temperatures had reached 88 degrees. This week, the forecast is for humid days with temperatures into the 90s through Thursday, above normal for this time of year in New York, before settling into the 80s for the semifinals and final.When Tiafoe plays Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals on Tuesday that will probably mean more sweat and more shirt changes.But who’s counting? More

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    At the U.S. Open, It Feels Like the Fourth of July

    A decade or so ago, back when Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe were rowdy teenagers raising hell at the United States Tennis Association dormitories in Florida, they dreamed that days like Sunday at the U.S. Open would eventually come.Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton were barely 10 years old back then, still figuring out how large a role tennis was going to play in their childhoods, though it was a safe bet it would be pretty large.Flash forward to Sunday at the U.S. Open, and those five players were at the center of what figured to be a daylong American tennis festival in the fourth round, a part of the tournament when, for so long, especially on the men’s side, players from Europe have filled the starring roles. Not on Sunday, when the year’s final Grand Slam tournament got down to serious business and the round of 16.With Ben Shelton facing Tommy Paul, it guaranteed an American would advance to the quarterfinals. It ended up being Shelton.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesThe schedule featured wall-to-wall red, white and blue; Black and white and mixed race players; players from wealthy families (Fritz), from more humble means (Shelton, Gauff, Paul), and one (Tiafoe) who started with almost nothing; some players with years of tour experience and one so raw (Shelton) that he needed to get a passport last year so he could leave the United States for the first time to play in the Australian Open.“We always believed this would happen,” said Martin Blackman, the general manager for player development at the U.S.T.A., who has known all five players since their early years. “But you never know when.”When Serena Williams, a majestic and groundbreaking figure in sports and culture for more than two decades, retired from pro tennis at this tournament last year, she left big questions about who might begin to fill the massive void she was leaving, especially in American tennis. Some pretty good hints arrived within days. Gauff and Tiafoe — charismatic figures with bright eyes and big smiles who play with equal parts heart, skill and athleticism — blazed into the deep end of the 2022 tournament, the quarterfinals for Gauff and the semifinals for Tiafoe.That was last year, though, and there was no guarantee that they or any of their compatriots would reproduce the magic of some of those days. Sunday represented a decent midpoint indicator.Looking at the draw in the middle of last week, Fritz’s eyes drifted to the quarter just above him, where Shelton, Paul and Tiafoe were crowded together. Some big names were out, and his people were still very much alive. Immediately he thought, “One of them is going to be in the semis,” and that was pretty cool.Paul won the third set after losing the first two, but he could not force a decisive fifth set.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesPaul and Shelton got the action rolling at noon Sunday in the opening match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The stands were filling up more with every changeover, getting louder each time Shelton’s booming serve put up big numbers on the radar gun.Two adrenaline-fueled blasts clocked in at 149 miles per hour as he built a commanding two-set lead before Paul came alive with the crowd rallying behind him. The stadium was near its capacity of 23,000 by the time his last forehand sailed long. It wasn’t the outcome Paul wanted, but the match had its moments.Early on, he looked up at the video board and saw that he and his buddies were on the list of Americans left in the tournament. He let that sink in, those names from the dormitory hall, names that were there in the late rounds of the junior national tournaments in his teenage years.“We grew up all together,” Paul said shortly after the loss. “Kind of cool.”Every Grand Slam tournament crowd throws its weight behind its home-country players. At the Australian Open, the “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oy, Oy Oy!” chant is a constant refrain. French crowds break out in spontaneous renditions of “La Marseillaise.” At Wimbledon, Britons will pack a field court to urge on a junior player they have never heard of with the same vigor they offer Andy Murray.The U.S. Open crowd, by reputation the rowdiest and most indecorous of them all, does its boisterous best to get its own over the line.Shelton, 20, hugged Paul at the net wanting to hear just what full-throated screams from the biggest crowd he had ever played before might sound like. Hard to blame him on that front.Shelton played to the crowd after his victory. His next opponent, Frances Tiafoe, is something of a showman, too.Karsten Moran for The New York Times“Amazing atmosphere, felt the love all day,” he said on the court moments later.And it stayed that way as Gauff played against Caroline Wozniacki, a former world No. 1. Wozniacki is on the comeback trail after having two children and has long been a crowd favorite in New York.That said, she had never played Gauff on a day that felt like a flashback to a couple generations ago, back to the eras when American men and women always held the promise of becoming the class of the sport and were among its biggest stars. This was part tennis match, part revival meeting, with more screams of “Go Coco!” than anyone could count in a building that Gauff, who is just 19, figures to be making her home for the next decade.A slight complication, a welcome one for the hometown crowd, arose as 4 p.m. approached when Tiafoe strutted into Louis Armstrong Stadium to play Rinky Hijikata of Australia just as Gauff was finding her groove. Like a parent facing a choice between children, Blackman needed a plan.“First set with Coco, then over to Frances,” he said as he rushed through a hallway underneath the stadium.Coco Gauff faced Caroline Wozniacki, a former world No. 1 popular with fans, but still enjoyed a partisan crowd.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesSlight complication for Gauff, too, in the form of a late-second and early third-set wobble that had her hitting backhand after backhand into the middle of the net. Wozniacki surged into the lead, breaking Gauff’s serve in the first game of the third set. But Gauff and her 20,000 friends weren’t about to let that last for long, not on this day. With a slew of “Come ons!” and teeth clenches she reeled off the final six games, bulldozing her way back into the quarterfinals.“Had some chants going, which was really nice,” Gauff said later. “The crowd doesn’t really compare to any of the other Slams.”She won two of the three U.S. Open tuneup tournaments and, despite dropping sets in three of her first four singles matches, is brimming with confidence.“I’ve been in this position before,” said Gauff, a French Open finalist last year. “I can go even further.”Meanwhile, over on Armstrong, Tiafoe was cruising.If Ashe is American tennis’s grand cathedral, Armstrong is its party space, a 10,000-seat concrete box with an upper level of seating that seems to hang almost directly above the court and a retractable roof that keeps sound echoing up and down and all around even when open. And no one these days, other than Carlos Alcaraz, knows how to throw a party like Tiafoe, 25, who broke into the top 10 of the rankings for the first time earlier this year.Tiafoe defeated Rinky Hijikata in straight sets at Louis Armstrong Stadium before turning the court over to Taylor Fritz.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesThe drunker and more spirited the fans the better as far as he is concerned. He pumps his fists, shakes his racket, and even throws out the occasional tongue wag after those curling forehands and jumping two-handed backhands, to make it just how he likes it, with as many hollers of “Go Big Foe!” as he can wring from them. It’s how he has long believed American tennis should be, and part of the reason he is Paul’s favorite player to watch in the sport.Up next for Tiafoe is Shelton, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.“He’s going to come after me, and I’m going to come after him,” he said. “I plan on being in the semi.”Then it was Fritz’s turn, filling the early evening slot on Armstrong, and taking the court shortly after Tiafoe left it, against Dominic Stricker, 21, of Switzerland, one of the surprises of the tournament. Stricker had to win three matches in the qualifying tournament to get into the main draw and he upset Stefanos Tsitsipas, a two-time Grand Slam singles finalist, in the second round. He had already played 22 sets of tennis in New York, including two five-setters, before he hit his first ball against Fritz.Taylor Fritz ended the run Dominic Stricker made out of the qualifying tournament by beating him in straight sets on Sunday.Karsten Moran for The New York TimesMuch of the Tiafoe crowd filed down the stairs into the main plaza of Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Waiting at the bottom were thousands more ready to take their place, Honey Deuces, Aperol spritzes, beers, poke bowls and fries in hand.Three American headliners had already moved on, and roughly three hours later Fritz had joined them, with a straight-sets win over Stricker, to make his second career Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, and his first since Wimbledon in 2022.“No other place I’d rather go on a run than here,” Fritz said.Madison Keys and Jessica Pegula were set to play each other in the fourth round Monday, and Peyton Stearns, out of Ohio and the University of Texas, was set to take on Marketa Vondrousova, this year’s Wimbledon champion. This home-country party was rolling on. More

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    A Tiny Gap Reveals a Yawning One for the U.S. Women’s Team

    The idea that the United States was eliminated from the Women’s World Cup by a millimeter is an illusion. Denying that will only guarantee more failures.Even in the highest-resolution image, examined up close, there was not so much as a discernible sliver of daylight. The margin by which the United States was eliminated from the Women’s World Cup was so microscopic that it cannot be expressed in a unit of measurement the country fully recognizes.A millimeter, a single millimeter, is no more than 0.04 inches, yet even that most slender gap can serve as the gossamer border between two realities. Such is the unspoken truth of sports, of course: The difference between triumph and disaster, delight and dismay, can be far thinner than we choose to pretend.For the United States, there is some comfort in that. “It is tough to have your World Cup end by a millimeter,” Alyssa Naeher, the U.S. goalkeeper, said after her team’s loss to Sweden in a penalty shootout Sunday. It does not take an especially vivid imagination to envision how the outcome might have been different.Had Naeher intercepted Lina Hurtig’s shot at a slightly different angle, maybe the spin would have carried the ball to safety. Had Hurtig struck her penalty more softly, or more firmly, maybe Naeher would have saved it more decisively. Granted a reprieve, maybe the United States would have gone on to win that game in the round of 16, the tournament, the crown. Maybe, maybe, maybe.Alyssa Naeher conceding Lina Hurtig’s penalty kick.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThat solace, though, is an illusion, and so too is the idea that the United States was eliminated by a millimeter. It was not one penalty that ended its hopes of a third straight title and, in the process, drew the veil over a whole golden, glorious generation, no matter how tempting it might be to believe. This is another unspoken truth of sports: Moments do not exist in isolation.There is a certain irony in the fact that it was against Sweden that the United States, so limp and insipid earlier in the tournament, started to show signs of life. Naomi Girma was imperious. Lindsey Horan was dynamic. Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman and Lynn Williams were all, at various points, electric. There were glimpses, in Melbourne, Australia, of what this team might one day be.But that should not disguise the shortcomings of what came before. The United States was only in position to be knocked out by Sweden because it had failed to beat both the Netherlands and — more troubling — Portugal in the group stage.The United States, the two-time reigning champion and pretournament favorite and great superpower of women’s soccer, won only one game in Australia and New Zealand, and that was against Vietnam. It was not even supposed to be in Melbourne. It was meant to be in Sydney, playing the Group G runner-up, at a time that had been specially arranged so that it was not in the middle of the long American night or early in the morning.Trinity Rodman in the match against Sweden.Scott Barbour/Associated PressThe spin of the ball, the single millimeter, was the culmination of a succession of failures, ones that can most immediately be traced to the last two weeks, but the roots of which stretch back not just months but years. To dismiss this disappointment as merely a cruel twist of fate is to risk failing to learn from those failures, making them endemic.It is not enough, for example, to point the finger of blame at the coach, Vlatko Andonovski. He will, most likely, be removed from his position before his contract expires at the end of the year, and it is hard to make a case for his retention. This is the worst performance an American team has mustered at a World Cup. A price has to be paid.But Andonovski is not the cause of the malaise. There are structural, systemic issues that have to be addressed, too. There are issues with the way the United States produces players, a fragmented system is reliant on pay-to-play youth teams in disparate leagues, unattached to elite adult teams, feeding into the college system.That was fine when the United States effectively had a monopoly on professionalized women’s soccer, before the major men’s teams of Europe and South America decided — and let’s not cast them as the good guys here, given how long it took — that maybe women might enjoy the chance to play the sport.In an ecosystem in which the intellectual and financial weight of global soccer can be deployed to hothouse talented young players, the American approach is not so much lacking as a guarantee of failure. So, too, is the continued emphasis on physicality, rather than cunning, that such a system favors. It is not a coincidence that the United States was eliminated from the tournament when its one player of genuine invention, Rose Lavelle, was absent. Lavelle is the one player, after all, that her country simply cannot replace.Lindsey Horan of Lyon, left, with Lauren James of Chelsea in a Champions League match.Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesNurturing talent, though, is just the first problem. It is significant that Horan is the only member of Andonovski’s squad currently playing in Europe. Others, including Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, have spent time there, but most have been drawn back to play in the surging National Women’s Soccer League.That is, in many ways, good. A healthy domestic league is not only desirable but a crucial ingredient in success. But it also hints at a creeping isolationism, a disconnection from Europe’s major leagues, which are now emerging as the game’s fiscal engine and its intellectual crucible, too.The United States needs players competing against their rivals and peers in the Champions League, not only as a finishing school but as a way to better understand their relative strength. Smith, for example, is lavishly gifted, but is she more so than Lauren James of England, Aitana Bonmatí of Spain or Linda Caicedo of Colombia? Answering that question is crucial for understanding how to set expectations.Most immediately, though, what is required is a generational shift. It is, as Rapinoe herself put it, a “sick joke” that her last act at a World Cup will be missing a penalty. She has already confirmed she will retire at the end of the N.W.S.L. season. There are others, though, who may have to be ushered into the autumn of their careers rather less willingly.That is never a pain-free process, and it will be all the more agonizing because of all this team has achieved. Naeher, Morgan, Julie Ertz, Kelley O’Hara and Crystal Dunn — as well as the absent Becky Sauerbrunn — have all enjoyed distinguished, glittering careers, the final, glorious ambassadors of a generation that won two World Cups.The U.S. team could look very different at next year’s Paris Olympics.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesMoving on would always be difficult in a purely sporting sense. It is made all the more charged, though, because of what this team means in a cultural one. They are, rightly, revered as players but they are also admired because of the causes — equal pay, equal rights, the struggle against racism and misogyny and homophobia — that they have willingly adopted.They mean something to people, to fans, in a way that other athletes do not. The adoration, the loyalty, the fervor they have inspired has more in common with political or cultural idols than it does with humdrum sports fandom.As Rapinoe has always acknowledged, though, the activism has to flow downstream from the sport. Winning, she said, is necessary because it is the precondition for people wanting to hear what you have to say. Victory has always been what allowed the U.S. players to speak their minds and to make their stands to the most people.It follows, then, that when they are no longer almost a guarantee of winning — when they might, in some senses, make success less likely — then they cannot be protected for what they represent, for what they mean, rather than what they do. There comes a point when they have to be judged as athletes, not activists, and that means knowing when to say goodbye.None of that would have been changed had Naeher managed to keep out Hurtig’s penalty, had the ball spun just out, had that microscopic difference worked in the Americans’ favor. This United States team was always coming to the end of its road. No matter where the ball landed, there was never any other reality than the one the United States finds itself in now, at the end of one era and the start of another. More

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    How the U.S. Was Eliminated From the Women’s World Cup, Shot by Shot

    The shootout was rapid-fire, but still agonizing for both Sweden, which moved to the World Cup quarterfinals, and the United States, which was eliminated.Under an ink black Australian sky above Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, the Women’s World Cup game between the United States and Sweden on Sunday went on and on and on. For 120 minutes, it went on as the teams tried unsuccessfully to score, with nearly 28,000 fans so nervous that they could only muster a simmer of cheers. Until penalty kicks turned up the volume and decided it all.That’s when the United States’ recent dominance in the World Cup fully ended, and the Americans were left stunned and devastated by their worst showing at the quadrennial tournament. They had arrived as the favorites after winning two consecutive championships, in 2015 and 2019. But on Sunday, in the round of 16, three missed penalty kicks and a razor-thin goal by Sweden changed their fate.Sophia Smith, who missed an opportunity to win for the United States, had to be consoled by her teammates as she sat on the field in tears. Kelley O’Hara, in her fourth World Cup, stormed by reporters and stared straight ahead in silence after the game, moments after her penalty shot hit the right post and bounced away.And Megan Rapinoe, the outspoken and accomplished U.S. forward who had been relegated to a reserve at this World Cup, grew teary when discussing that her international career would end with her missing a penalty kick, calling it “a sick joke.” Just a week ago, Rapinoe was asked what the team’s legacy would be if it failed to win the world title yet again. She answered, “I haven’t thought about that.”Now she won’t forget it. Sweden won the shootout, 5-4, to eliminate the United States.Alex Morgan, the star U.S. forward, called it “a bad dream.”“I’m really disappointed with myself, and I wish I could have provided more with this team,” said Morgan, who was on the bench for the shootouts because she had been replaced by Rapinoe earlier. She didn’t score during the entire tournament.Julie Ertz, who rushed back to the team after having a baby a year ago, said it was sweet to see her son in the stands after the match. “But it still hurts to lose a game like that,” she said. She walked off, wiping the wet, smeared mascara from under her eyes.It all came apart for the United States in a flurry of 14 kicks. Here’s how they unfolded, emotions included:Players from the United States, left, and Sweden reacting and cheering during the shootout.Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/ReutersAndi Sullivan, the midfielder, is up first to face Sweden’s goalkeeper, Zecira Musovic, with her teammates lined up behind her, many arm in arm. She walks over to the spot with the death stare of a gunslinger, then nails the shot into the lower left of the goal. Sullivan spins back toward her teammates and pumps a fist. The crowd finally comes alive and chants: “U-S-A! U-S-A!” U.S. 1, Sweden 0.Andi Sullivan got the United States off to a good start, by nailing a shot into the lower left of the goal.Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesFridolina Rolfo, a 5-foot-10 forward who has been on the national team for 10 years, is up first for Sweden against goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher about a month after winning the Champions League with Barcelona. She sends the ball into the right side of the net, her blond ponytail swinging behind her. She flexes her arms and opens her mouth wide to shout in celebration, and the Swedish fans, many clad in bright yellow and sitting right behind the goal, explode into cheers. U.S. 1, Sweden 1.One of the U.S. co-captains, Lindsey Horan, has a familiar, ferocious “don’t mess with me” look on her face. It’s the look she had just before she scored the equalizer in the 1-1 tie versus the Netherlands in the group stage. It’s much tougher than the softer approach she took for much of last week with her teammates, as she encouraged the 14 World Cup rookies, one by one, to play with more confidence. The Swedish fans are booing her, competing with the U.S. cheers. But Horan is steely and delivers the ball precisely to the left side, rocketing it into the net. U.S. 2, Sweden 1.Lindsey Horan scored.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesElin Rubensson celebrated scoring with Magdalena Eriksson.Hannah Mckay/ReutersElin Rubensson, a midfielder who returned to soccer just two months after having a baby in 2020, evidently decides that Horan picked a wonderful place to put the ball into the net. So she sends the ball there, too — and Naeher can’t get to it. U.S. 2, Sweden 2.Up next is Kristie Mewis, whose little sister, Sam, won the World Cup title with the United States in 2019. The elder Mewis exhales hard before she shoots with her left foot and sends the ball into the right side of the goal. The stadium starts to rumble. U.S. 3, Sweden 2.Kristie Mewis celebrated her goal with her teammates.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesNathalie Bjorn missed.Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesThe fans are starting to think this might never end. Nathalie Bjorn, the right back for Sweden, tries to shoot into the left corner, but the ball has other ideas. It goes flying over the goal and the Sweden fans sigh in unison. She buries her face in her hands. The momentum has changed. Peter Gerhardsson, Sweden’s coach, says after the game: “You’re just waiting. You want it to be over, and you want it to go your way.” U.S. 3, Sweden 2.The U.S. fans go wild when Megan Rapinoe walks up. She had come in for Morgan as a substitute and was sure the ball would go straight into the back of the net, just as it had so many times before, including in the final of the 2019 World Cup. This is her final World Cup, her fourth one, after she announced in July that she would retire this year. But now, her shot isn’t even close.She sends the ball flying over the goal. On the way back to her team, she smiles because she just can’t believe it. This is how an international career ends? She thinks she last missed a penalty shot maybe in 2018.“That’s some dark humor, me missing,” she says after the game. “I feel like I joke too often, always in the wrong places and inappropriately, so maybe this is ha-ha at the end.” U.S. 3, Sweden 2.Megan Rapinoe missed.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesAlyssa Naeher saved Rebecka Blomqvist’s shot.James Ross/EPA, via ShutterstockSweden’s Rebecka Blomqvist shoots and Naeher makes a superhero-like dive to knock the shot down. U.S. 3, Sweden 2.The United States scored only four goals at this World Cup, and forward Sophia Smith scored half of them. She can win it for the U.S. team, and takes her time setting up. When she connects with the ball, it soars over the right side of the post. The win was there for the taking, and she couldn’t grab it. She buries her face in her black-gloved hands. She will not be the star today. Horan tells her later: “The best players in the world miss.” Smith explains to reporters later: “But you’ve got to remember, this is part of football. You get back up and it’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt for forever.” U.S. 3, Sweden 2.Sophia Smith, right, was consoled by Lindsey Horan.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesHanna Bennison scored.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesHanna Bennison, a substitute for Sweden, has a chance to save her team from what had looked like disaster. She scores, sending her team into a frenzy. Gerhardsson says later: “Accept that you are nervous, so that being nervous doesn’t make you more nervous.” U.S. 3, Sweden 3.There’s a rumble among U.S. fans when they see who is taking the next shot: It’s Alyssa Naeher, the goalkeeper. She has flipped the switch in her head and is now taking on Musovic, her counterpart. Her shot goes smack into the middle of the goal after Musovic guesses wrong. U.S. 4, Sweden 3.Alyssa Naeher, who is also the U.S. goalkeeper, took one of the penalties and scored.Quinn Rooney/Getty ImagesSweden celebrated Magdalena Eriksson’s penalty.Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesMagdalena Eriksson, a seasoned center back, needs to score to keep Sweden alive. And she delivers to the upper right corner. Sweden 4, U.S. 4.It’s up to Kelley O’Hara, in her fourth World Cup. She sprints to the spot. She wants to win this game and this tournament and has rallied her team to have confidence that it will do both. But her shot bounces off the right post and away along the baseline.Kelley O’Hara missed.Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/ReutersSweden fans celebrated.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSweden’s fans start to party, waving their blue-and-yellow flags and dancing. Naeher says she feels terrible for her teammates who missed: “They’ve trained for it. They’ve prepared for it. And, you know, unfortunately, those things happen. My heart hurts for them.” Sweden 4, U.S. 4.Naeher conceding the winning goal by Lina Hurtig. Naeher appeared to have saved it, but the ball crossed the goal line by the slimmest of margins.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesLina Hurtig waited for a decision by the referee, Stéphanie Frappart.Hamish Blair/Associated PressSweden players celebrate.William West/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesLina Hurtig, the forward who scored when Sweden humbled the United States at the Tokyo Olympics, can win it. She shoots toward the left side of the goal. Naeher leaps for it, hitting it once with both hands to make it fly upward. The ball goes up, and Naeher hits it again with her right arm while on the ground, stretched backward, to keep it out of the goal.Did it go in, after all? Naeher insists she saved it. Hurtig raises her arms, and shadows the referee, Stéphanie Frappart, to make her case for a goal. The play is reviewed with cameras and tracking technology.Then Frappart waves her arms: The game is over; it is ruled a goal. Hurtig takes off toward her teammates and the Swedish players run onto the field to celebrate.The ball, indeed, had crossed entirely into the goal, according to the replay system. By the looks of it, the margin may be a millimeter. “I thought I had it. Unfortunately it must have just slipped in. But that’s tough. Ugh, we just lost the World Cup. It’s heartbreak,” Naeher says. Sweden 5, U.S. 4.Sweden’s players looking at a phone displaying the goal line technology that led to the decision on the final penalty. Alex Pantling/FIFA, via Getty Images More