U.S. Open Recap

Out with the old and in with the new? That was certainly the story of the women’s U.S. Open tournament finals on Saturday. However, it was the exact opposite in the men’s tournament.

Here is everything you need to know about the 2023 U.S. Open finals.

Coco Gauff defeats Aryna Sabalenka: 2-6, 6-3, 6-2

Gauff is now known as the “Teenage Queen of Queens,” due to her impressive performance on Saturday. She is just 19 years old and is the first American teenager to be crowned in the U.S. Open since Serena Williams in 1999.

After losing the first set due to Sabalenka’s powerful big hits, Gauff settled down and used her defense to make her mark. The turning point came in the second set when the teenager was able to save two break points and took the lead for good.

It was the Gauff show until the end. In the final set, she took a 4-0 lead after winning nine of 11 games.

Although it is Gauff’s first major singles title, the U.S. Open wasn’t the first time in the 2023 season that she has made her mark. The teenager has gone on a hot streak for the last two months.

She became the first teenager to win the Washington Open and went on to defeat Iga Świątek in the Cincinnati Open, both of these WTA championships in August.

Gauff’s best major appearance before this championship was in the 2022 French Open. She would reach the finals before ultimately Świątek would take the win.

Novak Djokovic beats Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3

This win marked history once more as Djokovic claimed his 24th Grand Slam Title. He tied Margaret Court’s record for the most all-time grand slam titles with this win.

For context, Djokovic now holds one more major singles title than Serena Williams, who retired one year ago.

He is often associated with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as the Big Three of men’s tennis. Djokovic is now argued as the best of all time as the other two have fewer major titles: 22 and 20 respectively.

This was the 14th time that Djokovic and Medvedev have played each other, with Djokovic winning nine of those 14. However, Medvedev did win the previous time in March during a tournament in Dubai.

In Sunday’s win, the second set seemed the most competitive with the two competitors battling head-to-head for games. In the final set, Djokovic won the first championship point to triumph in victory.

He received a purse of $3 million, which is equal to the amount Coco Gauff received. The U.S. Open has had equal prize money for both genders since 1973, when it became the first major to do so. This brings the star player’s total winnings to 175 million euros in his career.

Djokovic became the oldest man to win a U.S. Open singles title in the Open Era at age 36. He told the press after his historic win that he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon, as long as he is still playing some of the best tennis in the world.

Allie Wenskoski is a sophomore broadcast journalism student. To contact her, please email amw7637@psu.edu.