Rod Laver is 83 years old now and, to the Blob's knowledge, not a particularly gloating sort. So maybe he just smiled a little when the news came in Sunday from New York.
He's still Rod Laver, see. And Novak Djokovic still is not.
Joker had his Laver moment all lined up in the gunsights yesterday, but then Daniil Medvedev happened. He stunned Djokovic in straight sets in the men's U.S. Open final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, denying Joker the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men's tennis since 1969.
When, yes, Rod Laver did it.
So the Australian lefty still has that going for him, and Emma Raducanu still is the story of this Open. The 18-year-old Brit didn't come out of actual nowhere to win the women's singles title, but nowhere was her next-door neighbor; she came into New York ranked 150th in the world, and as a qualifier.
After which she did some slammin' of her own/
All Raducanu did was battle through the qualifying round and then the tournament, 10 matches in all, without losing a set. Polished off fellow teen Leylah Fernandez of Canada in straights in the final.
In so doing, she became the first qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam event. Again, without losing a set. And having won just 13 matches all year up until New York, almost none of them in tournaments of which anyone's heard.
So maybe it's a little early to call her, and Fernandez, the future of women's tennis. We shall see.
One thing's for sure, though.
The seeing part will be fun.
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