U.S. Open Finals This Weekend ... History Being Made

Women’s Final 

Saturday 3pm Central 

UPDATE: Raducanu wins ... first major champion in history to come through qualifying rounds

For the first time in ... forever? ... both finalists were just 18 years of age when the tournament started: Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) and Leylah Fernandez (Canada).

Raducanu had to win three qualifying rounds to even make it to the main draw — she has won 9 matches in a row without losing a single set — and is the first such Grand Slam finalist in the Open era (starting 1968). That’s 53 years.

Fernandez meanwhile has swept through as an unseeded player, defeating three top 5 players including defending champion Osaka, often wearing down opponents in three sets. 

The matchup should be entertaining and will definitely be historic, but whoever wins, this U.S. Open will be known as the one where the young ladies just mowed down the competition with wanton abandon. 

It has been quite compelling as a result and I’ve watched as much as I could.

Men’s Final

Sunday 3pm Central

Novak Djokovic vs. Danill Medvedev, the top two seeds ... what are the odds?

By far the biggest story with this match is that Djokovic is going for two amazing career accomplishments in one match: a Grand Slam (winning all 4 majors in the same year) and the all time record for victories in majors (21). The last Grand Slam was by Rod Laver in 1969, 52 years ago.

Djokovic defeated Alexander Zverev in an epic five set match Friday night featuring incredibly long rallies:

The decisive game of the third set was the match in microcosm. In one of the most intriguing non-deuce games you'll ever see, Djokovic broke for the set after rallies of 18, 32, 12, 21, 53 and 16 balls.

53 shots in one rally.

UPDATE: Medvedev wins in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 — Djokovic’s Grand Slam dream for this year is done and he's still at 20 major titles