The Thrilling Unpredictability of Women’s Tennis
This year’s U.S. Open has no shortage of female players who could win the title, which has made for an exciting tournament—with one caveat.
For the second straight year, Naomi Osaka was part of a tennis match that briefly took on a life of its own. Unfortunately for Osaka and her fans, that match didn’t end with her hoisting a grand-slam singles trophy. It took place in the third round of the 2019 U.S. Open on Saturday, when she defeated the precocious Coco Gauff in straight sets and then took the unusual step of asking Gauff to participate in the standard post-match, on-court interview with her so that she could heap praise on the young American and her. There’s a good chance that theirs will be the most memorable women’s match of the year, and it certainly functioned as a pleasant inverse to of Serena Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open women’s-singles final.
