OPINION: Closing thoughts on the 2019 US Open in complete and utter random order...
- The US Open is an event you have to love and hate… and seriously, most players think the same way, arguably more on the hate side.
New York has a lot to do with that - the city is a crazy celebration of everything good and bad. The tournament is hard work and loud for the players, and you have to be on your toes at all times.
- Congratulations to Bianca Andreescu, a very down-to-earth 19-year-old champion. We managed to have a few minutes with her after her quarter-final win, and she was polite and a genuine person to talk to.
- Fearless US Open quarter-final predictions
- Tennis stars speak their minds at US Open
- Credit where it's due: Doubles stars do us proud
- Sorry Serena, you're a champion player, but enough with the mother thing (this goes for US media too).
Plenty of other female athletes are mothers, plenty of other mothers are high on the corporate ladder... and plenty of mothers are bringing up kids by themselves, without the same child-care resources to call on.
- Medvedev is a star. Top player, top personality, easy to love and hate all at the same time.
At one stage, he was the perfect 1980's movie villain - the mysterious and merciless Russian baddie, set to destroy all that is good about the United States.
But this villain eventually won the hearts of the parochial New York crowd, despite losing the final.
- If Medvedev is a character, then there are others joining his happy band of personality-plus, with stories and trials and tribulations.
Take Coco Gauff, Kirstie Ahn, Taylor Townsend, Matteo Berrettini and plenty more, who had real tales to make the sport more interesting, on and off the court.
- American doubles star Mike Bryan was fined US$10,000 for pointing his racquet in a gun gesture and pretending to shoot a line judge. Dumb, just dumb.
Even worse, after seven people were shot dead in Texas the day before.
- You can build a U$150million roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium, but it seems you can't get the most basic phones, internet or anything else technological to work consistently
- The police transport plan around the tournament is sometimes confusing for everyone - including the police.
They decided to check cars entering the area, which is fair enough, but they did so in a manner that blocked one side of a freeway. Doing the checks 50 metres up the road would have solved everything.
When "advised" to do so by New Yorkers, there was just a blank stare. Cue media and former players jumping out of buses and walking (slightly illegally) half a mile along the freeway to get into the venue.
- The crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium Court are tough.
How tough? Well, they'd boo their own mothers.
If you can win that crowd over, you've done well, but it takes more than being a good player, just ask Novak Djokovic.
When the women's title winner has to block her ears to concentrate, that's major noise.
- The resident raccoons at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center didn’t chew through any wires this year… but they're still there, ready and waiting.
- Are we seeing more net play? The bash and bash from the baseline appears to have taken on a new form, as players like Townsend serve and volley.
Nadal came in to the net more than 60 times in the final, while lots of other players also found themselves at the net - and not just to shake hands at the end of the match.
It was fun to see variety creep into play.
- Officially, 737, 872 fans attended the two weeks of the tournament. The USTA likes to combine that with the qualifying and promotion week, which was another 115,355 people and a total of 853,227.
Basically, they just wanted to say they had a bigger crowd than the Australian Open.
- Temperatures were chilly at times, especially compared to the previous year's heatwave, but then it is the start of the fall in New York.
- Air conditioning - it sucks.
- No 'cocktail hour' media drinks this year at the tournament, no wonder prizemoney went up. You cannot be serious!
Dave Worsley is a Newshub sports reporter.
